Johnson, VT - Sage Smith (Colebrook, NH) scored more points than the entire Fisher College team as Vermont State University Lyndon advanced to the championship game of the Vermont State University Women's Tip-Off Classic, hosted this year by Vermont State University Johnson. The Hornets improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Falcons fell to 0-3.
Lyndon suffocated Fisher's offense right from the opening tap. Smith scored the game's first seven points and the Hornets shut out the Falcons in the opening quarter to move in front, 11-0.
Fisher finally got on the board at the 8:06 mark in the second quarter, thanks to a pair of free throws from Ladaeja Robinson that ended a scoring drought of almost ten minutes. Lyndon continued to gradually pull away, however, and took a 22-7 lead into halftime.
Lyndon put any notion of a Fisher comeback out of reach with a 16-0 run that encompassed most of the third quarter. After Olivia Hamel scored on Fisher's first possession of the quarter, the Hornets shut the Falcons out for the final 9:51 of the period. Meanwhile Smith scored ten of Lyndon's 16 points in the quarter and Saleena Porter (St. Johnsbury, VT) added a pair of buckets and Riann Fortin (Newport, VT) scored once.
Christina McKivergan (Essex, VT) drained a three-pointer on Lyndon's first possession of the final quarter and the Hornet lead never dipped below 28 points the rest of the game.
Smith finished with 23 points, one more than the entire Fisher team. Porter led Lyndon with 12 rebounds and four assists while chipping in seven points. Fortin finished with eight points and four rebounds.
Robinson was the only Falcon in double figures, as she tallied ten points. Hamel added seven points and 12 rebounds.
The Hornets will face host VTSU Johnson in Sunday afternoon's championship game, slated for a 2:00 pm tip-off. Johnson was a 55-47 winner over Vermont State University Randolph in Saturday's opening contest.
