Women Fall to In-State Rival Johnson State

The Knight women took on in-state non-conference rival Johnson State at home last night, and it was the visiting Badgers who were able to finish the night with a victory. JSC used a 53-38 rebounding edge, which led directly to 21 of their points, to defeat the home team by a final of 57-34.

Johnson State started the game with timely offense and tight defense, taking a 11-0 early lead and not allowing a Vermont Tech score until just past 11 minutes left in the half. Despite the slow start, the Knights began to claw their way back into the game, and finished the half off with a flourish.Thanks to a 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the half, the Knights cut the lead of their opponents in half. With both teams going into the locker room for the break, the score was 28-21 in favor of the visitors. Andrea Deuell of JSC led all scorers with 13 on her way to a game high 16, while her teammate, KC Coursineau, already had double digit figures in rebounding, reaching 10 in the half and 14 for the game. Junior Kelly Vellek (Burlington, VT) had 6 of her total 8 points in the first half to lead Vermont Tech.

The second half began much like the first, quick for Johnson and sluggish for the Knights. The Badgers used a 7-0 run at the start of the half to extend their lead to 14, while the Knights were not able to get on the scoreboard until the 13:05 mark when Freshman Heather Gonier (Williamstown, VT) was able to hit a jumper on her way to 7 total points. JSC used a 29-13 second half score, keyed by Brittany Robertson, who scored 11 of her total 15 in the second half to eventually pull away from the home Knights.

Coach Winnicker gave the Badgers credit, but said, "The are a solid, young team with some tall girls and Greg [Eckman] is doing a great job for his first year. We are starting to come together, but we are still hurting ourselves with a poor shooting percentage and a lack of reboudning. Our defense is solid, and the girls work incredibly hard, but we need to shore up those issues."

Senior Abby Fusco (East Montpelier, VT) tied Vellek with the high game score for the KNights, netting 8 while also leading the team in rebounds with 7. Freshman Alyssa Cassanelli (Barkhamsted, CT) and Deka Rivera (Lebanon, NH) and Junior Bekka Dimick (Windsor, VT) were not far behind Fusco in the rebounding department, as they hauled in 6 apiece.

The Knights drop to 1-3, 1-2 on the season. The team will take some time off during the Thanksgiving break before returning to the court for a game at Nashua CC on Wednesday, November 30th, start time is slated for 6pm, followed by the men at 8.