Lyndonville, VT - Playing without three starters, the Northern Vermont University-Lyndon women's basketball team couldn't stay with Middlebury College on Tuesday evening, falling 79-27 to the visiting Panthers.  Middlebury improved to 3-2 on the season, while Lyndon fell to 1-5.

Middlebury jumped out to a 19-9 lead after one quarter, then put the game away with a 21-4 second quarter to take a 40-13 lead into halftime.  The Panthers continued to pull away in the second half and cruised to the victory.

Alexa Mustafaj paced Middlebury with a game high 23 points.  Augusta Dixon was the only other Panther in double figures, finishing with 12 points, but Middlebury got contributions throughout the lineup as 11 different players hit the scoring column.

Lyndon didn't have any players in double figures.  Kiara Mack (Winooski, VT) led the Hornets with eight points and a game high six rebounds.

Middlebury dominated most phases of the game.  The Panthers shot 56.3% from the floor to 23.3% for the Hornets.  Middlebury also owned a 38-26 rebounding advantage and scored 31 points off of 31 Lyndon turnovers.

The Hornets will open North Atlantic Conference play on Saturday afternoon when they host the University of Maine at Farmington at 1:00 pm.