BENNINGTON, Vt. — The Mitchell College women's basketball team picked up its third straight win by topping Southern Vermont College, 61-52, in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action at the Mountaineer Athletic Center.
With the win, the Mariners earned a season split in the series and improved to 8-11 overall and 8-5 in conference play. SVC dropped to 12-8 overall and 10-3 in the league.
Diamond Thomas and Amanda Garcia each posted game highs of 18 points while Garcia nabbed 15 rebounds for the double-double; Thomas added three assists and two steals to her line. Jessica Shepherd tallied 10 points, six rebounds and four assists while Dazjavia Williams chipped in with eight points and 10 rebounds to go with a game-high six steals.
The Mountaineers were led by a strong performance from Sarah McDonald, who tallied a team-best 15 points to go with six rebounds. Amber Flagg also grabbed six boards to go with her 14 points and two assists while Chloe Longe registered six points and a team-high eight rebounds off the SVC bench.
Mitchell outscored Southern Vermont 24-18 in the paint and had a 15-10 edge on second-chance points.
The Mariners took an early 6-2 lead when Savanah Boyle grabbed an offensive board and put it back up for the easy two. Mitchell held its lead through the duration of the contest. SVC's Marissa Myers made the most of an open look beyond the arc on the right side, hitting a trey to make it 10-5, but Thomas then got a layup to go while drawing the foul for the three-point play and eight-point lead (13-5).
The Mountaineers did not go away, however, as they kept it close with successful trips down the floor, including a nice dish down low by Longe to McDonald that set up an easy bucket for the junior to make it a 16-13 ballgame.
Flagg then knocked down a three-pointer from the right side to make it 20-16 with 8:56 left in the first half, starting a 7-0 SVC run that tied the game at 20-20. The two sides battled through the remainder of the period with McDonald recording the final three points to cut Mitchell's lead to 27-25 going into the break.
Following intermission, the visitors went on an 11-2 run that was capped by another Thomas and-one play, putting her team on top 38-29. The Mariners continued to extend their lead, eventually taking their biggest edge of the day (45-31) with 12:26 to go in the game. That cushion was quickly erased, however, as the Mountaineers scored 11 unanswered points to cut it to 45-42 with 6:45 on the clock.
After Garcia knocked down a jumper, SVC responded with a quick 5-0 run to tie things up at 47-47. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, however, Mitchell continued to hit its shots down the stretch to maintain its advantage. The Mariners went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 4:24 of play to prevent Southern Vermont from taking the upper hand, and Mitchell walked out with the win to split the season series.
Mitchell will next host Becker College on Monday, February 9 at 5:30 p.m.