MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury College's Alexa Mustafaj poured in 30 points and the No. 4 seed Panthers posted a 66-52 win over the Hamilton College Continentals in a 2023 NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal at Middlebury's Pepin Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.  
 
How It Happened 

• Mustafaj and Augusta Dixon made jumpers for a 4-0 lead early in the opening quarter. 
• Emma Sehring '23 countered with three straight buckets for a 6-4 advantage. 
• Taylor Lambo '26 and Maria Mercado Rengel '24 capped off a 14-1 run with baskets on back-to-back possessions for a 14-5 cushion with 1:17 remaining. 
• Mustafaj closed out the quarter with a perfect trip to the line and sliced Hamilton's lead to 14-7. 
• The Panthers hit the first shot of the second quarter but Althea Hill '26 and Courtney Shay '24 netted 3-pointers for a double-digit lead at 20-9. 
• Middlebury answered with a 7-1 spurt and trailed 21-16. The Panthers got as close as four points at 23-19 on a 3-ball by Mustafaj halfway through the quarter.
• The Continentals responded with a 9-0 run for a 32-19 lead with 1:51 to go. Rengel scored five of those points.
• Mustafaj forced a Hamilton turnover and converted a fastbreak layup for a 32-21 deficit at the break. 
• Shay gave Hamilton its largest lead of 14 points at 43-29 on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 4:00 left. 
• Mustafaj made a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer and slashed Middlebury's deficit in half. The Panthers scored seven more in a row and finished the third quarter with a 14-0 run that evened the score at 43-43.
• Sehring gave the Continentals their last lead at 46-45 on a jumper in the paint with 8:45 left. The Panthers scored the next 13 points and took a commanding 58-46 advantage with 3:55 remaining.
• Middlebury was 8 of 13 from the floor in the final quarter. 
• Hamilton shot 36.5 percent (19-52) from the floor and went 11-for-21 at the line. 
• Middlebury shot 39.7 percent (23-58) from the floor, including 7 of 17 from the 3-point line, and went 13-for-17 at the charity stripe. 
• Hamilton owned a 34-29 edge on the glass. 
• Middlebury registered 18 fast-break points to Hamilton's four. 

Notes

• Middlebury (15-10) advances to the semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. 
• The Panthers defeated Hamilton 64-56 back on Jan. 6 at Middlebury. 
• Sehring was 7 of 8 from the floor and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for her 11^th double-double this season and the 12^th of her career. 
• Shay tallied her sixth double-digit game of the season with 12 points. She was a perfect 5-for-5 at the stripe. 
• Lambo registered 10 points and eight boards. 
• Mustafaj shot 3 of 7 from 3-point range and was 11-for-14 at the line. She added four steals. 
• Calie Messina collected nine points and a team-best six steals. Middlebury finished with 12 steals on 20 Hamilton turnovers.
• Reagan McDonald contributed eight points and Bethany Lucey grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds for the Panthers.

Season Recap

• Hamilton finished its season with an overall record of 12-11. The Continentals tied for fourth place in the conference standings with a 5-5 record, and were the fifth seed for the championship. Hamilton went 3-5 against nationally ranked teams.