POULTNEY, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College women's basketball team was down by just one with 1:47 to play Saturday afternoon, but the hosting Green Mountain College Eagles were able to connect offensively and hold the Mountaineers at bay to extend the lead and walk out with a 71-62 non-league victory at the Eagle Dome.
The game was even at 18-18 following the opening 10 minutes of action before GMC outscored SVC by five in the next period to go into the break on top 44-39. Southern Vermont came out strong to start the second half and took a 51-50 edge at the end of the third quarter, but the Eagles regained the upper hand in the final stanza and held onto it to close out the win.
SVC (0-2) now looks to its Tuesday home game against Fitchburg State University with that non-conference tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.
Southern Vermont freshman Brenna Hudson (Malone, N.Y.) dropped a game-high 17 points and had five rebounds in the effort while junior Maddy Main (Bennington, Vt.) tallied 15 points and tied the game-high of 12 boards for the double-double. Sophomore Taylor Mallett (Berwick, Maine) registered 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists, and classmate Dani Biggers (Broadalbin, N.Y.) had another six boards to go along with her career-best 13 points.
The Mountaineers went 23-62 (37.1 percent) from the floor while GMC connected on 32.5 percent (26-80) of its field goal attempts at the other end. The Eagles pulled down a slim 53-52 advantage in rebounds, but Southern Vermont chalked up a 36-26 upper hand in points from the paint.
Biggers downed a triple before adding a layup in the first 4:06 of the game for her team to sit behind just 8-7, and Mallett then pulled up and knocked down a jumper from the free throw line to keep the Mountaineers close. Green Mountain would try to pull away, but SVC had an answer each time as the back-and-forth continued. Hudson tied it at 16-16 with 1:23 left in the first, and she then connected on a pair of free throws to put her team ahead by two. GMC was awarded a trip to the line with just five seconds left, and the Eagle shooter made both to tie it at the end of the quarter.
After a 3-pointer helped the hosts go up 24-18 in the second, sophomore Sarah Poirier (Ferrisburg, Vt.) took a long pass in transition and put back her own rebound before Biggers sent home a triple of her own to make it a one-point game. The next three Eagle baskets came from behind the arc, however, as they opened it up to a 33-26 lead midway through the quarter. Main scored four unanswered, and Biggers then answered a GMC trey with one of her own to keep the deficit at three. Mallett followed with two-straight layups to put her team on top—only to see Green Mountain end the half on an 8-2 run for a five-point lead at the break.
Down 46-41 early into the third stanza, Southern Vermont was able to break the GMC press as Mallett found a wide-open Biggers underneath the hoop for an easy two which sparked a 7-2 run by the visitors. Green Mountain got a layup to go with 3:12 left in the quarter, but that would be the Eagles' last points in the period as Main connected on three free throws in the closing minutes for SVC to bring a one-point upper hand into the final frame.
GMC pulled ahead in the onset of the fourth before Southern Vermont got an offensive rebound and swung it around the perimeter; Main then took the ball from the top of the arc and drove to the hoop—laying it in from the doorstep to get her squad back within one at 54-53. After Green Mountain went up by four, Mallett dropped in a layup while drawing the foul and then finished the old-fashioned 3-point play. Scoring continued to get traded with a Hudson layup making it a 63-62 Eagle edge with 1:47 on the clock, but the hosts were able to notch the final eight points of the game to pull away and finish off the victory.
– #LetsGoSVC –