Middlebury raced out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back, beating St. Joseph's 66-30 Thursday night in Pepin Gym. All 11 Panthers contributed in the scoring, as Middlebury held a 50-31 rebounding advantage in the game. The Panthers (2-3) complete their first semester schedule with a home game against Union College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Middlebury jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the game as St. Joseph's (0-5) went 0 for its first 12 with five turnovers. Following a made free throw, Rachael Paquette netted the Monks' first basket with 9:49 remaining, as the Panthers held a 24-3 lead. The advantage was cut to 18 later in the half, before Middlebury closed the half on an 11-1 run to take a 43-13 lead into the intermission. The Panthers shot .513 from the floor in the first half with 10 players in the scoring column, while holding a 27-13 advantage on the boards.
The lead grew to 53-18 midway through the second half, highlighted by three consecutive hoops by Stephany Surette. In the final minutes, Elissa Goeke's lay-up gave Middlebury a 64-24 lead. A bucket by Leah Kepping capped the Panther scoring, before St. Joseph's ended the contest with back-to-back threes, including one from Brittney Garrow for a 66-30 final.
Surette led the Panthers with 13 points, as Jesse Miller chipped in a dozen while grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Garrow led all scorers with 18 points and collected a team-high 11 rebounds for St. Joseph's.
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