Women’s Basketball Looks to Make Two-Straight
(Poultney, VT) - After picking-up their first North Atlantic Conference win of the season Tuesday against Lyndon State College, the Green Mountain College women's basketball team looks to make it two-straight when they host Johnson State College Saturday at 2:00 pm.
The Eagles, 6-12 overall (1-7, NAC) broke their nine-game skid against the Hornets Tuesday, grabbing a 68-55 win. Freshman guard Chelsea Paul (Northville, NY) tallied a game-high 31 points and Emma Brinley Buckley (Lakeville, CT) notched her 3rd consecutive double-double en route to victory.
The Eagles charged out of the gates, scoring on their first four possessions to nab an early 11-4 lead. GMC continued their hot shooting and, with six minutes remaining, opened up an 11 point lead (30-19). Lyndon, however, fired back closing the half on an 11-2 run spurred by Donna Lawson (Irasburg, VT) who netted eight of her 20 first-half points to send the Hornets into the locker room trailing 32-30.
The second half started much the same as the first with the home side extending their lead to six on a 15-footer by Chelsea Paul. The Hornets once again chiseled away and, at the 15:15 mark, drew level at 38 on a Lawson jumper.
The Eagles responded with a 14-3 run capped off by pair of consecutive three-pointers from Katie Jablonski (West Rutland, VT) and Chelsea Paul. Lyndon again cut the lead to single-digits (55-49) but would get no closer as the Eagles sealed the win with an 11-1 run.
Chelsea Paul added five assists and eight boards to go along with her 31 points and went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Brinley Buckley chipped in 14 points, 12 rebounds, and swatted five shots while Jablonski chipped in with 10 points, and five assists. Senior Christin Louras (Rutland, VT) dished nine assists, helping the Eagles to their highest point total on the season.
Paul leads the Eagles and the NAC in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per contest and is 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage (41.2). Brinley Buckley continues her outstanding season, topping the NAC and NCAA DIII charts in blocks (5 bpg) while notching a conference-best 14.9 boards.
Johnson St. enters the contest on a three-game losing streak, dropping their most recent contest at Castleton 61-53. Claudia Martineau (Washington, VT) notched a game-high 21 points, added 14 rebounds, and 7 blocks for an impressive double-double to lead the Badgers. Jennifer Ferrari (Westfield, MA) added 15 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 performance from the free throw line, as Johnson State fell to 6-13 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
The Badgers are paced by a trio of double-digit scorers including team-leader Maria Gleason (Enosburg Falls, VT) (12.8 ppg) while Martineau and Ferrari are each chipping in with just over 10 points per contest.
When Johnson St. and Green Mountain College last met, the Badgers picked up a 45-40 win. Johnson was paced by Maria Gleason's (Enosburg Falls, VT) 11 points while seven other Badgers scored between three and six points. Green Mountain's Chelsea Paul tallied a game-high 20 points while adding eight rebounds and Emma Brinley Buckley tossed in eight points to go with 13 rebounds and seven blocks.
The Eagles return to action Tuesday, February 9th when they head to Castleton for their second meeting of the year with the Spartans. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 pm.
