The Middlebury women's basketball team (2-0) swept the weekend with an 84-74 overtime victory on Sunday against Keene State in the Middlebury Tip-Off Classic. The Panthers are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Union for a 6:00 p.m. start, while the Owls (2-2) play at MCLA at the same time.
Middlebury opened the game with a 5-0 spurt sparked by a three from
Reagan McDonald. Keene State battled back, taking an 8-7 edge on a jumper from Rylee Burgess. The score was tied twice more during the first quarter, before a trey from Maya Rioux gave the Owls a 15-12 advantage with 1:29 left in the stanza. A layup from
Gianna Palli brought Middlebury within one (15-14) heading into the second frame.
Knotted at 20 points apiece, Keene State went on a modest 8-3 run capped on a three-pointer from Jackie Alibrandi to make it 28-23 at the 4:54 mark. The Owls maintained a lead the rest of the half, heading into intermission with a 36-30 advantage.
Out of the break, Keene State had a 6-2 run to make it 43-32 at the 7:55 mark. Middlebury answered with an 11-1 run to cut the deficit to one (44-43). During the span, Palli and McDonald each had shots beyond the arc, while
Claire Miller capped the run with a pair of charity tosses. Later, a layup by Aryanna Murray gave the Owls a 48-45 edge, but Miller sank a shot with 55 seconds remaining to bring the Panthers within one (48-47) for the second time.
In the fourth frame, Middlebury took its first lead with an 8-1 burst capped on a pair of layups from
Alexa Mustafaj to make it 55-49. Keene State cut the deficit to one (55-54) on a free throw from Jenny Freedman at the 6:13 mark. The Owls later regained the lead, making it 65-64 with 2:55 remaining on a three from Hailey Derosia. A three from Palli and a jumper from Mustafaj gave Middlebury some breathing room, increasing the advantage to 69-65 with under two minutes to go. Leading 70-67 with 0.04 seconds showing on the clock, a foul was called on a Panther, giving the Owls a chance to tie the game. With a tenth of a second showing, Albrandi sank a shot from beyond the arc to knot the game 70-70 and send the contest into overtime.
Middlebury got out to a quick start in overtime, rattling off 10 of the first 12 points to take an 80-72 lead. The Owls cut the deficit to six (80-74) on a pair of free throws from Freedman, but that was as close as they would get as the Panthers won 84-74.
McDonald led all players with 22 points, while Palli had 20 and Mustafaj was right behind with 19. Dixon recorded a game-high 13 rebounds, while Mustafaj had four steals.
Alibrandi tallied a team-high 15 points for Keene State, while Derosia chipped in with 14. Kenzi Durnford and Murray each pulled down seven boards.
