The women’s basketball team hosted the first of two games Saturday afternoon against rival and sister school Northern Vermont University – Johnson. The Hornets stepped onto the court with a 0-6 North Atlantic Conference record and a 4-11 overall record, which would soon improve to 1-6 NAC Conference and 5-11 overall. After a long and fair battle on the court, the Lyndon Hornets rallied over the Johnson Badgers in an end score of 68-58.
The women’s bout started in the hands of the Johnson Badgers at tipoff. However, the Lyndon Hornets were quickly able to regain control of the ball and shut Johnson down for a short period. Lyndon scored on five different occasions before Johnson was able to get the ball, the score starting at 10-0.
Johnson retaliated nearly halfway into the first quarter with their own scoring streak lead by Amorette Rodriquez (34), bringing the score to 10-14. However, Lyndon’s Alissa Mitchell (11) and Lea Crompton (32), with the assistance of their team, quickly threw a few more balls through the net to regain control of the game. The quarter ended with both teams showcasing defensive strengths and a score of 16-14 in favor of the Lyndon Hornets.
As the second quarter began, Johnson’s Rodriquez made quick work of the ball to bring the score to 16-17. This put the Hornets on high alert and the team worked together to shut down the Badgers for two minutes before Klaire Ware (14) was able to sneak in a jump shot. Shortly after, Lyndon was back to scoring with Alisha Celley’s (24) own jump shot, a layup by Mitchell, and a layup by Rylee Moore (21).
The rest of the quarter was very back and forth between the Hornets and Badgers as they showed evenly skilled offensive and defensive strategies. For the remaining four minutes, Johnson and Lyndon respectively scored another 8 points each to end the first half of the game at 30-27 favoring the home team of the Hornets.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Johnson was able to tie up the game with a score of 30-30 before the Lyndon Hornets went on another scoring spree with one jump shot and three layups. The Badgers snuck another couple of points onto the board before Lyndon took over the game once again, ending the third quarter with a score of 46-37.
For the fourth and final quarter of the game, the Badgers started with control of the ball and were able to close the point gap to 46-39 before the Hornets scored an additional 7 points. With more evenly matched back and forth action, the Badgers could not close the point gap. Lyndon was able to hold their own to end the game 68-58.
The “Player of the Game” honor went to Lyndon Hornet Shaylan Mosher (12) who scored 14 points throughout the game and 7 rebounds. Crompton ended up being the top scorer with a total contribution of 16 points. However, the win over Johnson was a team effort as every single Hornet on the roster had playing time and scored at least 1 point.
The women’s basketball team will be visiting Plymouth State and the University of Maine – Presque Isle for their next week of contests. Their next home game will be against Husson on February 7 at 5:30 PM in the Stannard Gymnasium.
Feature Photo by Alexandra Huff: “Player of the Game” Shaylan Mosher (12) rushes to defend the basket from rival school Northern Vermont University – Johnson.