Middlebury, Vt. – The Middlebury College Panther women's basketball team posted a 66-47 win over the visiting Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's basketball action this afternoon.  Trinity drops to 13-10 overall and closes the NESCAC season at 3-6, while the Panthers are now 14-8 overall and finish 3-6 in the conference.  Trinity drops to the No. 8 seed in the NESCAC Championship Tournament and will visit top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Amherst in the quarterfinals on Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.           

Trinity opened the game with a three from junior guard Kaitlin Ciarleglio (Waterbury, Conn.), but Middlebury responded with a 12-2 run, capped by five points from Brittany Perfetti, including a three at 16:10 for a 12-5 Panther advantage. With Trinity trailing, 17-8, nearly midway through the first half, the Bantams rallied with a 7-0 spurt, cutting the deficit to 17-15 with 8:52 remaining. Middlebury maintained a slight edge over the next few minutes before Trinity senior tri-captain guard Kristen Fahey (Cumberland, R.I.) hit a three on her only attempt in the half at 1:45 that cut the Panther lead to 22-21. Middlebury closed out the half on a 4-0 burst, capped by a pair of free throws by Lauren Sanchez with less than a second left in the half, for a 26-21 lead at the break.

After Perfetti opened the second half with a three, Trinity scored consecutive buckets before the Panthers pulled away with a 19-6 run. Maddie Moreau scored eight points, including a pair of threes, highlighted by her second long distance connection at 10:23, capping the run with a 48-31 lead. Middlebury was not threatened down the stretch as the lead grew to 66-43 in the final minutes before Trinity ended the scoring with a pair of field goals, setting the final score at 66-47.

Sophomore guard Carly Napier (Pittsford, N.Y.) paced Trinity with 10 points, while senior tri-captain forward Rebecca Cohn (San Francisco, Calif.) nabbed a team-best seven rebounds.  Sanchez led Middlebury with 16 points and collected a game-high eight rebounds.