WBB Picks Up Road Win at SVC

BENNINGTON, Vt. – The visiting Mitchell College Mariners took control in the fourth quarter at the Mountaineer Athletic Center Saturday afternoon to claim a 52-41 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball win over Southern Vermont College.

A slow first quarter for both sides made way for SVC to go into the locker room on top just 19-17 before Mitchell pulled ahead to take a 30-28 edge into the fourth. The Mariners then opened up their lead through the final 10 minutes to take the victory.

SVC's Maddy Main notched her eighth double-double of the year—and her fourth in-a-row—with a game-high 18 points and a team-best 10 rebounds; she also had three steals and a pair of assists in the effort. Brenna Hudson had nine points and another 10 boards while adding three steals to her line, and Taylor Mallett notched nine points herself in addition to three assists and three steals.

A pair of Mariners registered a team-high 11 points with Marissa Sweeney adding a game-best 18 rebounds for the double-double. Ashleigh Beauford had the other 11-point game while tallying four boards in the win, and Francesca Pinard chalked up nine points and nine rebounds for the visitors.

Mitchell shot 31 percent (18-for-59) from the floor while holding SVC to a 23-percent (14-for-61) clip. The Mariners grabbed a 52-39 advantage in rebounds to post a 12-5 edge in second-chance points.

Mitchell held a 2-0 lead with 2:40 left to go in the first quarter as both sides were hard-pressed to find the bottom of the net early on. Main then recorded seven unanswered points for Southern Vermont to bring an upper hand into the second.

Mitchell came back to tie it with a trey by Jordan Lohneiss, but SVC answered when Main sent a great pass over the top to Hudson in the post for a pair. Baskets were traded down the stretch before two Mallett free throws with 20 ticks left allowed the Mountaineers to bring a slight edge into the halftime break.

Main once again lobbed it in to Hudson down low midway through the third to set the score at 26-20, but a bucket from downtown by Camille Staggers sparked a 13-2 Mitchell run which carried into the fourth. After Main got a lay-up to go to make it a 35-32 Mariner advantage with 5:41 on the clock, Pinard and Beauford both scored four points during a 10-0 run to provide separation that SVC would be unable to bounce back from.

Southern Vermont (3-13, 2-5 NECC) is next in action on Thursday, January 18 with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Elms College for the second of the Mountaineers' four-game home stand. Mitchell (5-9, 4-2 NECC) hosts Dean College on Tuesday, January 16 at 6 p.m.