Courtesy Johnson State Sports Information

JOHNSON — Middlebury women’s basketball narrowly defeated Johnson State College on Tuesday evening, 57-52 in a down to the wire thriller. With the loss, Johnson slides to 1-4 overall while Middlebury advances to 3-0 on the young season.

Both teams came out slow to start the opening stanza only scoring a combined 23 points in the first quarter. The teams traded leads twice and knotted things up before the quarter concluded. The visiting Panthers put up a quick five points from Collene Caveney to push Middlebury over the edge to end the quarter up 14-9.

Both teams came out hot in the second quarter with Johnson scoring first. With 5:15 left in the half, the Panthers picked up momentum extending their lead to ten until a Sarah Voorhis lay-up halted the run. Johnson worked to close the gap heading into the half just five points behind the Panthers with a score of 26-21.

Johnson used the third quarter to pressure the Panthers scoring 13 points overall to Middlebury’s 9. Domonique Carter-Stanley was hot for the Badgers going 3-5 from the field. Johnson’s efforts paid off as the Badgers ended the quarter behind by a point 35-34.

Despite sharp shooting from the hosts, the Badgers were unable to power past their opponents. The final seconds of the game were thrilling for the Badgers, but ultimately saw the visitors squeak by with a 57-52 win.

Johnson will return to action at 6:30 on Wednesday the 2nd when they host Norwich for a 6:30pm tip off. Middlebury will be off for over a week returning to action to face Skidmore on Saturday, December 5th.