Vellek carries women to victory
From the Times-Arugus on Dec 9, 2010:
Sophomore Kelly Vellek scored six points and made a key block and Chelsea Carpenter hit a free throw with 14 seconds left on the clock to spark the Vermont Tech Lady Knights to a 42-39 victory over Yankee Small College Conference rival New Hampshire Technical Institute (NHTI) at the Shape Center Wednesday.
Vermont Tech opened up its largest lead 31-25 on Kelsey Ward’s inside hoop with 8 minutes to play and then limited their turnovers against the Lynx’ full-court pressure to earn their fourth win and snap a four-game losing streak. The Lady Knights lost their tallest player, 6'3" Eliza Wakefield from Danville six minutes into the second half with a knee injury and were outrebounded 23-18 overall.
Vermont Tech held a 15-13 halftime lead as both teams struggled on offense against each other’s half-court man-to-man defense, shooting 4-20 and committing 11 turnovers apiece. There were no fast break baskets or points scored in the paint and little dribble penetration.
Vellek changed that by taking the ball to the basket in the second half. She led all scorers with 18 points, 12 in the second half. Ward scored all eight of her points in the second half. Vellek, Ward and Stacie Waite had four boards apiece.
When Kelley Vellek hit a trey as the shot clock sounded at 1:05 and Abby Scholten sank two free throws 20 seconds later, one-third of the Lady Knight’s point total went up on the board in the final 65 seconds of the 20-minute half.
Jess Hardiman scored 17 points for NHTI, including four three-pointers. Alecia Mahoney tallied 11 points in the paint in the second half before VT Tech coach Travis Paquet switched Vellek into the post to guard her.
“It was an ugly first half, but we limited our turnovers later on and hit some free throws,” Paquet said. “Kelly (Burlington High) was a big player for us in the first two games and then fell off. If she can find her stride again, we’ll be in good shape.
Vermont Tech made 11 of 17 foul shots. NHTI went 6-11 from the line.
Vermont (4-4) plays at Central Maine Saturday. NHTI falls to 6-3.
