Lyndonville, VT - Vermont State University Lyndon was within five points of Maine Maritime Academy at halftime of Friday's North Atlantic Conference women's basketball game.  Unfortunately for the Hornets, the Mariners used a 20-9 third quarter run to take control and then cruise to a 56-40 victory.  Maine Maritime improved to 9-4 on the season and 4-0 in conference.  Lyndon fell to 4-11 overall and 0-7 in the NAC.

Maine Maritime jumped out to an 8-2 lead enroute to building a 14-5 first quarter advantage.  The Mariners extended their lead to 17-5 following an Evelyn Dagan layup a minute and a half into the second quarter.  The Hornets responded with a 6-0 run on a Saleena Porter (St. Johnsbury, VT) jumper and back to back baskets from Riann Fortin (Newport, VT).  The Hornets continued to chip away, and a pair of Fortin free throws cut the Mariner lead to 20-15 at halftime.

Maine Maritime's Erianna Moore connected on a three-pointer to open second half scoring.  A pair of free throws from Sydney Briscoe pushed the Mariner lead to ten points, before a Porter three and a Kerigan Disorda (Benson, VT) layup cut the margin in half.  That would be as close as the Hornets would come, as the Mariners outscored Lyndon 15-4 over the last five minutes of the quarter to take a 16-point lead into the final period.  Lyndon was never able to get the margin back into single digits in the final quarter as the Mariners cruised to the victory.

Dagan was the only Maine Maritime player to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points.  Moore and Jacquelin Castro each chipped in with eight points.  Porter finished with a game high 14 points and eight rebounds to pace the Hornets.  Fortin and Sage Smith (Colebrook, NH)added 11 points apiece.

The Hornets and Mariners will tip off again on Saturday afternoon.  Start time in Stannard Gymnasium is scheduled for 3:00 pm.