BENNINGTON, Vt. – Southern Vermont College fell to the visiting Daniel Webster College Eagles Thursday night, 64-51, in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball action at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.
DWC led 37-24 at halftime, but the Mountaineers were able to come back and trim the Eagles' lead to four early in the fourth quarter. That would be closest SVC would get, however, as the visitors pulled away in the last 9:13 of the game.
Both sides are back in action on Saturday with league games, the Mountaineers (1-10, 1-5 NECC) heading to Wheelock College for a 2 p.m. start while Daniel Webster (3-9, 2-4 NECC) hosts Newbury College at 3 p.m.
SVC senior Abbi Molner (Wilmington, Vt.) tallied a team-high 13 points to go with her five rebounds, three assists and three steals while freshman Taylor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) was right behind with 12 points and five boards. Junior Chloe Longe (Enosburg Falls, Vt.) added nine points, five rebounds and two assists as freshman Kelly Dobbert (Stamford, Vt.) had four points and a team-best six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.
The Eagles were led offensively by senior captain Kayla Free (Quincy, Mass.) who had a game-high 23 points to go with her nine rebounds and five steals. Classmate Briana Diggs (Washington, D.C.) notched a double-double with 12 points and a game-best 13 boards while junior Escarlin Reynoso (Lawrence, Mass.) registered 17 points and three takeaways in the win.
Southern Vermont went 21-for-49 (42.9 percent) from field goal range as DWC shot 37.5 percent (24-64) from the floor. The Mountaineers grabbed a 39-33 advantage on the glass while Daniel Webster outscored SVC 34-30 in the paint.
The hosts found themselves in a 7-0 hole off the bat as the Eagles were awarded two free throws for an administrative technical foul before the tip and then took the jump for another quick basket. SVC freshman Sarah Poirier (Ferrisburgh, Vt.) got the Mountaineers on the board as she rattled home a three, but the Eagles came back with six straight to make it a 10-point difference.
Southern Vermont would go on a run of its own as Longe scored consecutive baskets before Poirier drained another triple. Dobbert then made a great play to grab an offensive board and put it back up, cutting Daniel Webster's lead to 15-14 late in the quarter. Poirier knocked down a jumper with 28 ticks left to give her team a one-point edge, but Free drained a trey before the buzzer to put her team back in front.
Free opened and closed a 10-2 DWC run with three-pointers in the onset of the second, extending the Eagles' advantage back to double digits. Daniel Webster ended the half on a 9-2 spurt to go in front by 13— Free scoring five of those Eagle points to make it a 37-24 ballgame at the break.
Scoring went back-and-forth to begin the third quarter before the Mountaineers made a push to get back in it. Molner, Longe, and Mallett each scored a short-range basket on consecutive SVC trips down the floor, and Longe added a three-ball to cap a 9-0 run that got the hosts back within seven. Buckets were traded towards the latter end of the frame, and Southern Vermont sophomore Amber Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) then hit one from downtown to set the score at 49-43 heading into the final period.
Molner continued the Mountaineers' comeback with a layup for the opening basket of the fourth, only to see the Eagles gain separation once again with an 11-2 run; Reynoso drilled a three from the right corner during that stretch before Diggs recorded back-to-back jumpers. Free got a layup to go with 2:36 left on the clock, and neither side would score the rest of the way as Daniel Webster finished off its second Conference win.
– #LetsGoSVC –