HENNIKER, N.H. - The New England College women's basketball team improved to 6-3 on the season with a non-conference victory over VTSU-Lyndon, sending the Hornets to 6-3 with an impressive 82-46 win on Tuesday night at Bridges Gym.
It was a double-double double feature as junior Xitlali Montesino (Watsonville, Calif.) secured her second of the season and junior Camryn Lewis (Taunton, Mass.) locked down her fifth of the campaign. Montesino ended with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, while Lewis had 11 points and 13 boards.
Senior Mackenzie McDonald (Boscawen, N.H.) led all scorers with a career-best performance, scoring 21 points on 10-of-19 shooting. She also brought down seven rebounds, six of which were on the offensive end. As a team, the 'Grims outrebounded the Hornets, 59-40, 22 of which were offensive rebounds.
The 'Grims got off to a quick start with three-point buckets from both McDonald and Montesino within the first three minutes of the game. They would grow their lead to nine points, 21-12, after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter was much of the same for the Pilgrims, mirroring their first quarter effort with 21 points while holding the Hornets to just nine. Montesino had a hot-shooting first half with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting while also bringing down five rebounds. NEC held VTSU-Lyndon to just 7.7 percent shooting from beyond-the-arc while shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range to distance themselves going into the half, 42-21.
NEC doubled up Lyndon in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets, 24-12. The 'Grims shot over 50 percent in the period as McDonald, Montesino, and junior Nyah Belton (Colton, Calif.) each had six points.
In the fourth, McDonald continued to dominate with eight more points to wrap up her career-high night. Junior Jayden Estrada (La Mirada, Calif.) had been working as a facilitator for most of the game with nine assists, but the sharpshooter added two three-pointers in the fourth as she ended with nine points.
The Pilgrims held the Hornets to just 22 percent shooting from the field and 13 percent from deep. Meanwhile, they hit on 43 percent of their attempts including 35 percent from three-point range to cap off their second largest win differential of the season, to date.
The Pilgrims are set to face a fellow Vermont school on Thursday, travelling to VTSU-Johnson on Thursday for a 5:30 PM matchup with the Badgers.
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