The Middlebury women's basketball team dropped its home opener as Plattsburgh State came away with a 68-62 victory on Saturday in Pepin Gymnasium. The Cardinals (5-2) outscored the Panthers (3-2) by a 19-11 margin in the third quarter, before holding off Middlebury in the final frame. Middlebury is idle until December 30 when it hosts Salve Regina at 4:00 p.m., while Plattsburgh State returns to the court on January 2 competing in the Springfield Tournament.

In the opening period, the hosts held the lead for nearly seven minutes with Plattsburgh State moving in front (12-11) with 3:13 left. The Cardinals maintained that one-point lead (14-13) at the end of the opening 10 minutes.

Catherine Harrison scored 24 seconds into the second quarter to put the Panthers back in front (15-14). The teams were tied three times in a span of 1:26 with the last of those coming at 20-20. Plattsburgh State used a 7-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Isabella DePasquale.

The Panthers countered with five-straight points with Sarah Kaufman starting the run with a free throw, followed by field goals from Sabrina Weeks and Harrison, as Middlebury tied the game at 27-27 with 2:27 left in the half. The Cardinals closed out the half with a 9-4 run for a five-point lead at the break.

Plattsburgh State led 36-31 at the half and maintained advantage for most of the third quarter, finishing on a 12-3 run over the final 2:48. The visitors held a 13-point lead (55-42) with one quarter to play.

The Cardinals netted the opening bucket of the final quarter on a lay-up by Devona Paul, but the Panthers slowly began to narrow the gap. A basket from in the paint by Harrison made it a 60-50 contest 3:45 in, while just under two minutes later Amanda Bayer sank a lay up to close the difference to single digits (60-52).

Middlebury came within five points on three occasions, with each of them coming in the final two minutes. A three-pointer by Weeks accounted for the first of those, while Colleen Caveney twice made back-to-back free throws. The latter of those came with 37 seconds left to cut the gap to 67-62.

Harrison had a big game for the Panthers with a double-double consisting of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Kaufman added 16 points, while Weeks and Caveney each netted seven. Eileen Daley had a solid game in the paint with 13 rebounds.

Paul finished with a game-high 24 points for the Cardinals, hitting 9-11 attempts from the floor. She now has 995 career points, closing in on the 1,000-point milestone. DePasquale contributed with 14 points, while Allie Taylor and Misha Green also reached double figures with 11 points apiece.

Middlebury held a 59-41 edge in rebounds with 29 of them coming on the offensive end of the floor. The Panthers shot just 29.3 percent (24-82) from the floor, while the Cardinals were at 43.9 percent (25-57) for the contest.