Panthers Scratch Owls, 70-50

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State College Women’s Basketball team defeated Keene State College on Tuesday, February 18, with a score of 70-50 in a Little East Conference women’s basketball game at the Foley Gymnasium. The Plymouth State Panthers fought hard for the victory against a pesky arch rival Owls team. The win also concluded a regular season sweep of Keene State. The win improves the Panthers to 17-7 on the season, 9-4 in LEC contests. Keene State drops to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in the conference.

In the first 10 minutes of the game there were five lead changes. The game was up for grabs it seemed. However, Plymouth managed to secure a lead for the remaining 10 minutes of the half. The Panthers led by seven at the break, 34-27.

The big reason for the Plymouth outburst in the first half was due to the solid performance of Senior Courtney Albert who had 14 points and 12 boards. In Albert’s last game against Keene State in the regular season at home was also highlighted finishing with a double-double. She later scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds leading Plymouth State.

In addition to Albert, the Panthers got 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists from senior Whitney Morin. Both player were the only other Panthers to score in double figures. Jenn Pelletier was next on the Plymouth scoring charts with 8 points and a pair of 3 pointers. A trio of players, Heather Adey, Mandi Allen, and Lauren Devereaux all contributed a well balanced attack and 6 points to their teams cause. Adey and Devereaux also provided strong support under the basket as well collecting 6 rebounds. PSC had a 61-43 advantage on the boards which was an obvious deciding factor for both teams down the stretch.

Despite a valiant effort from Keene State, Plymouth was too much for them in many aspects of the game. A great deal of credit must be given to a well-prepared game plan by Coach Lavigne and the rest of her coaching staff. The inconsistent offense of Keene was unable to break down the defense of the Panthers. The Owls were led by senior Hayley Alaimo, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Julie Tardif finished with 11 points and nine boards, and freshman Liz Donnelly contributed 11 points off the Owls’ bench.

The Plymouth State College Women’s Basketball team defeated Newbury College on Thursday, February 13, with a score of 76-67 at the Foley Gymnasium. Despite a talented and determined Newbury team, the Panther’s worked hard to come back from a 12-point half time deficit for the victory. Their record now stands at 15-7 and a Little East Conference mark of 7-4. The Nighthawks dropped to 14-8 overall.

The visitors enjoyed the lead most of the first half, taking a 10-point advantage (28-18) with 8:20 to play. Newbury was hot in the first half converting on 46 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes, while holding PSC to a 31 percent shooting average. PSC was having obvious difficulty controlling, rebounding and distributing the ball to the open player. One bright spot for Plymouth was the surprising offensive support from Katie Susat with 6 points which helped keep her team in the game.

The defense was also having troubles slowing down the flow of play from Newbury in the paint and on the perimeter. The Nighthawk’s received outstanding post play from Ebony White (12 points) and Quishema Rose (11 points) in the first half. In order to stop an aggressive attack from Newbury, Coach Lavigne tried to use a full court press. Unfortunately for PSC, Newbury broke down the defensive scheme easily and consistently increasing their lead by half time (42-30).

After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, PSC went on a 17-5 spurt over a seven-minute stretch. PSC was able to take its first lead (55-53) since early in the first half with 10 minutes to play. Early on, the Panther’s were able to develop a strong transition game as well as a strong inside game on both ends of the court. The key to Plymouth’s response in the second half was finding the open player and no one benefited more than Whitney Morin, Courtney Albert and Jen Pelletier.

The shooting percentages were reversed in the second half, as PSC hit on 53 percent after the break and Newbury managed to make only 38 percent. The visitors turned the ball over 30 times, including 20 in the second half.

Whitney Morin had another outstanding all-around game pumping in 12 points in the second half to up her total for a game high 20 points. Courtney Albert became more than a factor in the second half coming alive with strong aggressive play on the inside contributing 14 points. Also, Jen Pelletier poured in 15 points and nailed important shots down the stretch. Other contributing Panthers were Betsy Oswalt with 10 points and 4 rebounds and Mandi Allen (5 points) who drained a big 3-pointer to unlock a tie with Newbury (58-55).

With five minutes remaining it was still a one-point game (62-61) but PSC pulled away eventually, outscoring Newbury 14-6 the rest of the way. Newbury began to show fatigue late in the second half due to a small bench and lack of experience. The Nighthawks only had one upper classman on the team while the rest were freshmen and sophomores. After being forced to use a time out down 68-61, Newbury was left without any hope of catching up. PSC ran away with the victory.

The Nighthawks had a balanced offense, with sophomore Ebony White recording 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, junior Quishema Rose adding 13 points, sophomore Shanisha Mitchell with 11, and freshman Victoria Anderson contributing 10 points.

The regular season concludes this Saturday when PSC hosts Rhode Island College (1:00 p.m.).