Lyndonville, VT - The Northern Vermont University-Lyndon women's basketball team broke open a close game in the third quarter and cruised to a 73-55 non-conference victory over SUNY Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.  The win was the Hornets' third straight, and improves their overall record to 4-7.  The Broncos fall to 3-11 on the season.

The game was tightly contested throughout much of the opening half.  A pair of Katelyn Lewis jumpers gave Delhi an early 4-0 advantage.  After some back and forth, the Hornets took their first lead, 7-6, at 5:48 of the opening quarter when Faith Poirier (Portsmouth, NH) connected on the first of her five three-point goals.  Lyndon built the lead to 15-10 following another Poirier three, but the Broncos responded by scoring the final seven points of the quarter to take a 17-15 lead after one.

Delhi built their biggest lead, 23-17, after Camryn McDonald found Lewis open for a jumper at the 7:32 mark of the second.  Lyndon responded by scoring six straight points, capped by an Alissa Mitchell (Milton, NH) jump shot, to tie things at 23-23.  After Delhi briefly regained the lead, Alisha Celley (Cabot, VT) scored off of a steal and assist by Poirier to put Lyndon in front for good.  Leading by two with just over a minute to go in the half, Celley was fouled and converted one of two shots.  The Hornets then converted back to back Bronco turnovers into two Mitchell buckets to extend their lead to 37-30 at the half.

Delhi Scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of Lewis free throws and a McDonald jumper, but that would be as close as the Broncos would get.  Lyndon responded with a 12-0 run featuring two Poirier threes to extend the lead to 49-34 with 3:22 left in the third.  The Hornets would take the 15-point margin into the final quarter.  Delhi wasn't able to make up any ground in the final period, as the Hornets extended their advantage to as much as 22 points before settling for the 18-point win.

Mitchell finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and four steals to lead the Hornets.  Poirier finished with 15 points on 5/9 shooting from behind the three-point line.  Lea Crompton (Dunbarton, NH) also chipped in 15 points.  For the Broncos, Sam Acuna and Diana Echols led the way with 14 points apiece while Lewis finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Hornets had a slim 45-41 rebounding advantage and forced Delhi into 24 turnovers while only committing 13 themselves.

Lyndon gets back into North Atlantic Conference play this weekend when they host the University of Maine at Farmington on Friday evening and Thomas College on Saturday afternoon.  Tip-off in Stannard Gymnasium is set for 5:30 pm on Friday and 1:00 pm on Saturday.