Lyndonville, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon women's basketball team will begin its quest for the North Atlantic Conference Championship on Thursday evening, when they travel to the University of Maine at Farmington in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The game will tip off at 7:00 pm in UMaine-Farmington's Dearborn Gymnasium..
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Lyndon (14-11, 9-9), the tournament's number six seed, dropped both regular season matchups with third seeded UMF (18-7, 15-3. The Beavers cruised to a 63-45 victory in Farmington on January 5th, then staged a fourth quarter rally to capture the rematch, 82-74, in Lyndonville on February 7th.
Lyndon has been led by senior post player Kiara Mack (Milton, VT) and sophomore wing Skylar Begay (Tucson, AZ). Mack is averaging 12.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.1 blocked shots per game on the season. She ranks seventh in the NAC in scoring, third in rebounding, and first in blocked shots, and is a two-time NAC Defensive Player of the Week. Begay averages 13.6 points and 2.7 assists per game, ranking sixth and eighth respectively in the conference.
Mack and Begay will be supported by senior guard Ella Huntington (Taylorsville, UT), who averages 9.0 points and a NAC-best 4.8 assists per game. Senior guard Kadienne Whitcomb (West Burke, VT) averages 7.8 points per contest and is second in the conference with 53 made three-point goals. Transfer wing Nei'Shae Clegg (Coolidge, AZ) rounds out the starting lineup and comes into Thursday's game averaging 6.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.
The Beavers are paced by sophomore guard Jaydn Pingree and junior forward Jessica Dow. Pingree leads UMF in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game, while Dow averages 12.0 points and a team best 5.5 rebounds per game.
The winner of Thursday's Lyndon-UMF game will advance to face second seeded Husson University in a semi-final contest Sunday afternoon at 3:30 pm at Husson. In the other side of the bracket fourth seed Thomas College will host fifth seed State University of New York at Cobleskill on Thursday evening, with the winner moving on to play top seed Maine Maritime Academy on Sunday afternoon in the other semi-final. The two semi-final winners will meet for the NAC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament on Saturday, February 28th, on the home court of the highest remaining seed.
