Lyndonville, VT - One day after taking it on the chin from one of the North Atlantic Conference co-leaders, the Vermont State University Lyndon women's basketball team entered Saturday afternoon's contest with the other co-leader, the University of Maine at Farmington, looking for a very different result. For most of the game it looked like the Hornets might get the outcome they were seeking. Lyndon led for most of the contest, but the Beavers closed the game on an 11-3 run to escape with an 82-74 victory. With the win UMF improved to 18-6 on the season and 15-2 in NAC play. Lyndon fell to 13-9 overall and 8-7 in conference.
After UMF's Jaydn Pingree scored the first basket of the game, Lyndon scored the next seven points, with five coming from Skylar Begay (Tucson, AZ). The Beavers would pull even on a couple of occasions, but the Hornets never relinquished the lead, and extended it to eight, 45-37, on Kadienne Whitcomb's (West Burke, VT) three-point goal just before the halftime buzzer.
The Hornets pushed their advantage into double digits in the early stages of the first quarter following an Ella Huntington (Taylorsville, UT) jumper that made the score 50-39. UMF would respond, and when Ruby McMinis scored off of a Lyndon turnover, the Beavers took their first lead since the opening minutes, 55-54, with 48 seconds to go in the quarter. However five straight points from Lyndon's Kiara Mack (Winooski, VT) put the Hornets back in front heading into the final quarter.
Lyndon maintained its advantage in the early stages of the fourth quarter, at one point extending it to seven points. UMF again answered the challenge, eventually pulling even on a Sarah Poli jumper with 5:18 to go. Nei'Shae Clegg's (Coolidge, AZ) free throw briefly put the Hornets back in front, but the Beavers answered with a pair of Jessica Dow free throws. Dow scored inside to make it a three-point game, but Begay's three ball tied things at 71-71 with three minutes remaining.
A driving layup from Makayla Emerson and a Pingree jumper gave the Beavers a four point lead, but Clegg scored, was fouled, and made the free throw to cut the UMF lead to a single point. That would be the final time Lyndon would score, as UMF would put the game away with a Kytanna layup and five straight free throws.
Dow topped all scorers with 21 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and dished out five assists with four steals and three blocked shots.. Lilly Gray came off the bench to score 16 points. Pingree was the only other Beaver in double figures, finishing with 15 points.
Lyndon received very balanced scoring, placing five players in double figures, led by Begay with 17 points. She also recorded six assists and three steals. Whitcomb and Keira Qunital (Sheffield, VT) each finished with 12 points, while Mack and Huntington each tallied 11.
Lyndon returns to action on Tuesday night when they host Thomas College in another NAC matchup. Prior to the 7:30 tip-off the Hornets will honor Huntington, Mack, and Whitcomb, their three seniors.
