Team Effort Leads WBB Past SVC

BENNINGTON, Vt. – Mitchell College held Southern Vermont College to just 22-percent shooting during a 69-56 road victory at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball action.

Amber Flagg paced all players with 20 points to lead SVC, adding nine rebounds, three assists and three steals to her line. The Mariners had three players reach double digits in the points column with freshman guard Jessica Shepherd leading the team at 15 while chipping in with four assists and three rebounds. Mitchell freshman forward Caycee Williams notched a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards in the win.

Javasha White just missed out on a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds while Mariah Anthony added 11 points and six caroms. Kala MacKenzie finished the day with eight rebounds and three blocks.

Sophomore Toshina Jessamy had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists off the Mitchell bench while freshman guard Samantha Ryan had a game-best five assists. Senior Kate Mulloy helped the cause with nine points and 12 rebounds on the day.

Rebounding and turnovers were even as the teams recorded 53 and 17 apiece, but Mitchell recorded 26 points in the paint to Southern Vermont's six. The Mariners shot 39 percent (26-for-67) while going 6-for-19 from three-point range.

The Mountaineers kept the game close through the opening nine minutes with Mitchell holding just a three-point lead after Flagg was fouled while knocking down a trey. She converted the four-point play to make it a 12-9 Mariner advantage with 11:39 to go in the first. A minute later, SVC's Amber Dow hit two free throws to close it to 13-12 in favor of the visitors.

From there, however, Mitchell took over with a 14-0 run to take a 27-12 lead, providing a comfortable cushion that the Mariners would not relinquish. Jessamy scored eight points during that stretch, including two three-pointers, while the run was capped by a pair of lay-ins by Williams.

The Mountaineers did not go quietly as they took to a 10-2 run of their own to cut the lead to just 29-22 with 1:43 to play in the opening frame. Mitchell baskets by Ryan and sophomore forward Amanda Garcia closed out the half for the Mariners to increase their lead to 33-22 heading into the locker room.

MC held Southern Vermont to just a 17-percent shootinge (5-for-30) in the period while Jessamy led all players at the break with 13 points.

After play resumed, neither team saw early success in finding offensive rhythm as the first 2:35 ticked off the clock without a score. SVC then made a move with baskets by Anthony and Jyline Varin to make it a 33-26 ballgame. But the Mariners continued to be efficient when needed and kept their distance from the hosts.

The closest Southern Vermont got was when the Mountaineers trailed by six at 43-37 following a Flagg free throw at the 9:44 mark. MC eventually went up by as many as 15 (62-47) with just over three minutes left and made the most of trips to the charity stripe en route to the 69-56 victory.

The Mariners (15-8, 15-2 NECC) now set their sights on a regular season finale at Regis College on Wednesday, February 19 at 6 p.m.