Johnson State steals Win
Thomas 77, Johnson 78

Johnson, Vermont. -- Johnson State erased a 14-point second half deficit to force overtime and then earn a 78-77 victory over Thomas College on Saturday in North Atlantic Conference women's basketball action.

Staci Cutting (Rochester, Vt./Rochester) bounced home a three-point shot from the top of the key with :16 remaining to force the overtime session and completing a Johnson State comeback that erased the 14-point margin over the final 8:03.

A twisting Jenna Lewis (Middlebury, Vt./Middlebury) lay up with 2:49 remaining in overtime gave JSC (7-7, 3-2 NAC) a 72-71 lead followed by a 12 foot jumper by Shanna Allen (Belleville, N.J./St. Anthony’s) for some breathing room as the Badgers held on for the victory.

Claudia Martineau (Washington, Vt./Spaulding) scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the way for Johnson State while Lewis scored 21 and handed out a game-high eight assists.  Lewis canned 14 of 18 free throw attempts in the contest.  Cutting was also in double-figures with 14 points while Casey Rusin (Wilmington, Vt./Wilmington) chipped in with 10 points.

Amy Miles (Waldo, Maine) paced Thomas (4-6, 0-5 NAC) with 16 points with Mallory Blakney (Fairfield, Maine) had 15 points.  Lea McNary (Marlborough, Conn.), 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Tonya Jones (Freedom, Maine), 10 points, were also in double figures for the Terriers.

January 18, 2008

Thomas Women's Basketball Downed by Castleton
Thomas 38, Castleton 57

Castleton, Vermont -- Junior guard Jessica Banks scored 18 points and dished out seven assists to lead the Castleton State College women's basketball team to a 57-38 win over Thomas College.

Banks also hauled in five rebounds and had two steals to lead the 7-6 (3-1 NAC) Spartans to the win.

Castleton jumped out to a 28-15 halftime lead, thanks in part to a 5-12 performance from beyond the three-point arc.

Brittany Morin and Karen Demers each had 10 points to lead the 4-5 (0-4 NAC) Terriers.

Freshman forward, Megan Johnson added 10 points off the bench, while Melissa Verrill added eight points and seven rebounds for Castleton.

Both teams return to action on Saturday afternoon with Castleton hosting U. Maine-Farmington, and the Terriers travel to Johnson State for 4:00 pm starts.

January 12, 2008

Thomas Loses Tough One to Husson
Thomas 59, Husson 85

Waterville, Maine -- Thomas College's Women's Basketball Team (4-4) lost to the Husson Women's Basketball Team (4-6) 85-59, at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium. Thomas was lead by Karen Demers with 17 points. Lea McNary chipped in with 10 points. Cortney Barrett pulled down 9 rebounds to go along with her eight points. Amy Miles played a tough game grabbing 7 rebounds in a losing effort.

Husson was led by Shelby Bradford with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Husson also got help from Jenny Rollins who also contributed towards the win with 16 points and six rebounds and six assists. Noelle Lincoln and Laura Archer also added 9 points, making all their points from beyond the arc.

Thomas College will next play Smith College on Monday, January 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Smith College.

January 8, 2008

Thomas Women's Basketball Fend Off WIT
Thomas 62, Wentworth 58

Boston, Mass. -- Freshman guard Mallorie Blakney (Fairfield, Maine) connected on 8-of-15 shots from the floor and 8-of-11 free throws, en route to scoring a game-high 26 points as Thomas held on to defeat Wentworth, 62-58, in the first game of 2008 for both squads.

The Terriers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, with Blakney factoring in all of the points.  In addition to scoring six points, she assisted on a three-pointer by junior guard Brittany Morin (Winslow, Maine).  The Leopards would score six of the next eight points and trimmed the lead to 11-8 when senior forward Emily Cring (Cicero, N.Y.) hit a jumper in the paint with 15:21 left.

After Thomas got the lead back to five (15-10), sophomore guard Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) drained a three-pointer to cut the lead back to two with a shade over 10 minutes to play.  One of two free throws from Blakney would bring the lead to three before a three-point play by junior forward Amy Miles (Waldo, Maine) brought the lead back to six.

Freshman forward Meaghan Healey (Merrimack, N.H.) scored the next four points and brought the Leopards back to within a pair, but a 12-2 run over the next 4:27 by the visitors gave Thomas its largest lead of the game at 31-19 with 4:24 left.  Wentworth would then use a 6-0 spurt to cut the lead to 31-25 with 2:49 left, thanks to a three-point play by Cring.  A three-pointer from Morin on a fastbreak brought the lead to 34-25 with 35 seconds left, but the Leopards scored the final five points of the stanza, including a trifecta from sophomore guard Angela Tucker (Lynn, Mass.) with nine seconds to play in the half.

The second half would open with Cring hitting a jumper to cut the lead to a pair, but Blakney quickly answered with a three-pointer to give Thomas a 37-32 lead 1:39 into the second half.  Each time Wentworth would score, the Terriers had an answer and led by six (44-38) with 14:00 left.

A three-pointer by Fauci with 11:30 left trimmed a five-point lead to two (47-45), and, after freshman forward Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) hit one of two free throws, the Leopards found themselves trailing by just one.  However, Blakney scored the next three points to push the lead to four with 7:34 left, and despite Wentworth's cutting the lead in half on two separate occasions, the Terriers led by four (56-52) with 3:31 left.

The Leopards began to make a run when Vallone caused a turnover and sophomore guard Michelle Moffo (Southington, Conn.) hit a fast-break layup with 2:20 left.  Moffo was fouled on the play, but missed the ensuing free throw.  However, Cring controlled the offensive rebound and dished it out to sophomore guard Jessie Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.), whose attempt to put Wentworth up one missed the mark.  On the next possession, Vallone caused another turnover, but the Leopards could not control the ball, which led to a three-point play by Blakney, giving the Terriers a 59-54 lead.

Gardner buried two free throws with 1:29 left, and less than a minute later, Vallone had a put back to bring Wentworth back within one at 59-58.  Morin was fouled with 16 ticks left and buried both shots to give the visitors a 61-58 lead.  Wentworth had one last chance, but Vallone's game-tying trifecta was off and Blakney hit one of two free throws with a second left to seal the win.

In addition to Blakney's 26 points, Morin tallied 11 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals.  Miles would add nine points and nine boards in the win.

Cring went 6-for-11 from the floor to score 15 points and grab 17 rebounds.  Moffo (10 points, five rebounds, three assists) and Vallone (seven points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, three steals) also paced the Leopards in defeat.  Wentworth won the battle of the boards by a 49-36 margin.

With the win, Thomas improves to 4-3 and returns to North Atlantic Conference action Saturday when the Terriers host Husson.  The loss snaps a four-game win streak for Wentworth, which falls to 7-3 on the season.  The Leopards travel across the city Thursday night to face Emerson.