Bennington, VT –The Sage College's women's basketball team travelled to Southern Vermont College on Sunday afternoon for a non-conference matchup with the Mountaineers. Sage led 28-19 at the break and never looked back as the Gators cruised to a 78-46 victory. Sage improves to 3-3 on the year, while SVC drops to 2-3.
The Gators had four players finish in double-digits and two players in double digits on the boards. Leading the way for Sage was sophomore Frankie Pearson (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) as she scored 14 points, while senior guard Megan Bowman (Dannemora, NY/Saranac) added 11 points. Senior forward Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) and rookie Gen Schoff (Little Falls, NY/Little) each added 10 points, while Jefferson hauled in 10 rebounds with nine defensive boards.
Sophomore forward Krystyn Knockwood (Troy, NY/Troy) added 10 rebounds as the Gators held a 47-38 margin on the glass.
The Mountaineers were led by a nine-point performance from junior captain Amber Flagg (Windsor, Connecticut) who added five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the effort. Classmate Sarah McDonald (Cohoes, New York) tallied five points to go with her game-high seven rebounds while fellow forward Kala MacKenzie (Fair Haven, Vermont) finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Southern Vermont started off well, keeping pace with Sage and even leading at a couple points in the early going. But with the Mountaineers on top 8-6 after a MacKenzie layup, the Gators scored eight unanswered to pull ahead. SVC kept pace, however, as the hosts continued to make shots and force Sage turnovers. After McDonald hit one-of-two from the free throw line with 3:20 to play in the first, the Gators recorded the final seven points of the half to go into the break with a 28-19 advantage.
Pearson had eight of her points in the first while MacKenzie and Schoff followed with six apiece. Threes were hard to come by as SVC went 0-4 from beyond the perimeter and Sage connected on only 1-5 attempts.
The two teams traded baskets to start the second period, but Sage then went on an 18-0 run that put the game out of reach for the Mountaineers. The Gators shot 54.1 percent in the half to finish with a 47.1 percent clip (32-68) on the day; SVC ended with an even 30 percent shooting, going 18-60 from the floor.
Bowman is making her steady climb in the Gator record book and now has 780 career points. She moved ahead of Kelly Murphy (772, 1999-2002) on Sunday in scoring and also has 350 assists and 199 steals. She moved into sole possession of the No. 4 spot in career steals surpassing Wendy Kuhn (198, 1988-1992). She is also No. 2 all-time in career assists.
Jefferson moved into the No. 3 position in career rebounds as she now 607 boards and is closing in on the No. 2 spot (633, Susanne Booth, 1994-1998) in rebounding.
The Gators return to action on December 2 hosting Cazenovia College in a 7 p.m. match-up in Kahl Gym.
