#2 in YSCC NHTI Edge Vermont Tech

Despite having a 21-18 halftime advantage, the Vermont Tech Women's Basketball team dropped a close contest on the road to NHTI by a final of 49-42. The Lynx are the second ranked team in the Yankee Small College Conference, boasting a record of 12-5.

NHTI utilized an unorthodox 3-2 zone and stellar rebounding, especially on the offensive end, to stymie Vermont Tech and walk away with a victory. The first half saw NHTI take an early lead, but then the Knights made a slight adjustment in their offensive game plan to begin to crack the Lynx zone. Sophomore Kelsey Ward (Swanton, VT) was the key, penetrating the zone in the middle, driving to the basket and hitting short jumpers on her way to a team leading 13 points. She also ended the game with 10 rebounds. On the defensive side of the ball, the Knights used a switching style of defense to confuse the Lynx, forcing them to take outside shots. NHTI shot only 4-25 from 3 and 26% from the field.

The second half saw much of the same, with a tight game the entire time and neither team never pulling away by more than a few points. Freshman Heather Gonier (Williamstown, VT) stepped up in scoring 11 points and garnering 8 rebounds. Senior Kelly Vellek (Burlington, VT) had another solid game, controlling the offensive side of the ball as point guard while hitting three from the outside to give her 9 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Perhaps the two most telling stats from the game were 27-13 and 17-6. NHTI had 27 offensive rebounds the Vermont Tech's 13 and 17 steals to the Knights' 6. Those numbers led directly to the Lynx taking 76 total shots to the Knights' 49. Kelly Collins was the key in the win for the Lynx, coming down with 18 rebounds, 11 offensive, to go along with 16 points.

When asked his assessment of the teams, Coach Winnicker said, "NHTI is extremely disciplined in their offense and simply outworked us in regards to rebounds. We are improving, we are getting closer to what we all feel we can be as a team. We aren't there yet, but I think we can be by next weekend's games."

The Lady Knights are now 3-8, and have a week of practice before taking a difficult road trip to Maine. On Saturday, January 21 the Knights take on Maine-Machias at 1pm, then on Sunday they face Eastern Maine for the first time this season, tip is set for noon.