Mariners Narrowly Escape Wildcats Final Surge 64-58

HOLYOKE, Mass.- In another New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) battle the visiting Mariners of Mitchell College narrowly hold on to their lead defeating host Wildcats of Bay Path College 64-58 today at the Bartley Center.  Despite the tough loss, senior forward Kayla Skiffington (East Longmeadow, Mass.) had a stellar performance finishing with a game high 16 rebounds and 20 points.

Freshman forward Caycee Williams (Torrington, Conn.) outscored all players finishing with 21 points. Williams also contributed seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Two other Mariners tallied double figures for the conference match with sophomore guard Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass.) adding 12 points while coming off the bench sophomore forward Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn.) had 13 points and six rebounds.

Wildcats' senior guard Justine Hook (Berwick, Penn.) finished with 17 points hitting four from the arc. Following close behind was freshman guard Aaliyah Gordon (Springfield, Mass.) with 13 points adding a game high five steals.

The Wildcats started off sluggish in the first half with the Mariners leading 31-17 at the half. The Wildcats outscored the Mariners in the second half by eight points (41-33) unfortunately it was not enough to grab the lead. With under a minute left, Hook hit a much needed trey to bring the score within the closest 59-56. Unfortunately the fouling did not work to the Wildcats advantage as the Mariners made five out of the six shots at the line in the final minute. Gordon had the final drive at the buzzer with the Wildcats falling short by six points.

Bay Path is now 3-10 on the season and 2-4 in the NECC, while Mitchell improves to  5-7 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Mitchell will host Southern Vermont on Tuesday at a 5:30 p.m. match while Bay Path hosts Newbury at 8:00 p.m.