The Middlebury women's basketball team left it all on the floor in a 100-97 double overtime loss to second-seeded Colby in the NESCAC Quarterfinals. Three Panthers posted double-figures, highlighted by a career-high 29 points for Kale Tornwini in a game that set a conference tournament record for most points scored (197).

HIGHLIGHTS

• Colby raced out to an early 7-0 lead, capped by a three-point field goal from Lydia Mordarski at the 7:12 mark
• The Panthers answered, rattling off a 19-4 run over 5:16 for a 19-11 lead with 1:56 remaining. Alexa Mustafaj led the charge with six points.
• Amelia Hanscom cut the deficit to four (19-15) with two charity tosses, before Mustafaj converted a layup with nine seconds left to make it 21-15 after the opening quarter.
• Chelsea Ibenegbu tallied six points in the opening stages of the second quarter to stay within four (23-19) at the 8:12 mark.
• The Panthers answered with a 6-0 burst finished with consecutive buckets from Tornwini to rebuild their lead to double-digits (29-19) with 7:20 left.
• Middlebury kept the lead as the first half wound down, taking a 37-32 advantage in the locker room.
• Colby came out firing with a 13-7 run to open the second half, capped on a fastbreak layup by Kate Olenik to go ahead 45-44.
• Both sides went back and forth in the third with neither gaining a lead larger than a possession until Calie Messina drained a three-pointer before the buzzer sounded to give the Panthers a 65-59 edge heading into the fourth frame.
• The Mules ripped off an 11-4 run to take a 70-69 edge with 6:06 left.
• Tornwini continued to be the hot hand for the Panthers, tallying 11 consecutive points over three minutes to push Middlebury to an 80-74 lead at the 2:35 mark.
• Colby did not go away, as a three-pointer from Ana Von Rumohr deadlocked the contest at 81 points apiece with 30 ticks left on the clock.
• Both teams had chances to win the game in regulation, but could not convert as the contest headed into an extra session.
• The Mules and the Panthers traded buckets throughout the initial overtime session until a layup by Olenik gave Colby a 90-88 edge with one minute left.
• Tornwini answered Olenik's bucket with one of her own to knot the contest at 90-90 with 38 seconds left. 
• Neither team could find the golden bucket, as the squads headed to second overtime for the first time in NESCAC Women's Basketball postseason history. 
• Middlebury surged out of the gates with a 7-2 run to jump ahead by five (97-92) at the 3:23 mark.
• Colby took the momentum back, matching the Panther's run with five consecutive points to knot the contest at 97 points apiece with 1:13 remaining.
• The Mules broke through on a layup from Hanscom to push the home team ahead 99-97 with 26 ticks left.
• After a free throw from Van Rumohr made it a three-point game, the Panthers called a timeout to advance the ball, butut Olenik blocked a three-point attempt to send the Mules to the NESCAC Semifinals.

NOTES

• Mustafaj led all scorers with 34 points and seven assists. She finishes her Panther career as the program's all-time leading scorer (2,180), and owns the school records with most field goals (815) and free throws made (397).
• Dixon pulled down a career-best 25 boards alongside 17 points for her 12th double-double of the season. The 25 boards are the second-most caroms in a game in program history. Her two blocks also pushed her past Aylie Baker '09 for second-most in a single campaign (44).
• Colby and Middlebury met for the 40th time overall and third in the NESCAC Tournament.

The Panthers will wait for their NCAA Tournament fate when the field is announced on Monday, March 3.