Lyndonville, VT - The Lady Falcons earned their 14th victory of the season as they defeated the Northern Vermont University-Lyndon Hornets (9-8) in a non-conference matchup, 63-54. The Falcons have now won two in a row, and five out of their last six contests.
The contest was tight throughout as each team battled for the lead in the first quarter. The Hornets got up by as many as five in the first, but five straight points from Piper Mali (Oro Valley, AZ) got her team to within one after the first ten minutes of play as the Hornets took a 17-16 lead after one. Lyndon continued to extend their lead by as many as seven points at 28-21 following a pair of NVU free throws with 3:30 to go before half. Fisher was able to narrow the gap, however, and a three-pointer from Choon-Hee Chae (Kyle, TX) cut the Hornet lead to 32-31 heading into the break.
The two teams continued the seesaw affair early in the third quarter as there were four lead changes and two ties over the first five minutes of the quarter. With the score knotted at 40 a piece, Fisher then went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes fueled by a three and a jumper from Vivian Lara, to open up a 49-40 lead with 1:45 to go in the period. A pair of Lyndon free throws would get them back to within seven heading into the fourth quarter as the Falcons were up 49-42.
After Lyndon opened up the fourth with the quarter's first basket, Chae responded with a three that would give the Falcons their biggest lead of the game going up 52-44 with 9:23 left on the clock. NVU would not go away though as they countered with five straight points including a three from Taylor Courchesne to bring the Hornets back to within three. Two straight buckets from Lara, including one from behind the arc put her squad back up by six, 59-53 with 3:09 remaining. A Lyndon free throw would get them back to within five, but a strong lay-up from Jenny-Lynn Eggers (Sonoma, CA) would put the game out of reach as the Falcons took a seven point lead with a minute to go. The Falcons held the Hornets to just the one point in the last five minutes of the game to seal the win.
Lara led all scorers with 20 points, her third straight game with 20 or more points. She also tallied six rebounds and five steals to help lead her team. Chae finished the game with 11 points, and was 3 for 3 from behind the arc, to go along with six boards. Mali also finished in double figures as she chipped in with 10 points. Eggers led her team on the glass as she had a team high nine boards in the win. Lyndon's Lea Crompton played a strong all-around game in pacing the Hornets as she tallied 18 points and five assists on the night, while Alissa Mitchell pulled down a game high 14 rebounds and also dished out five assists.
The Falcons return to action this Friday as they play host to Villa Maria at the Winsor School in Boston, MA with tip-off slated for 8:30pm.