Box Score MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Whenever the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team found itself matching basketball wits against Middlebury College during the course of the past nine years, things haven't exactly panned out in the most positive manner for the Cardinals.

On Tuesday night, junior guard Brittany Marshall decided to change the Cardinals' fortunes in that particular SUNYAC-NESCAC series.

The Malone, N.Y., product came through with a game-high 19 points and was the only Plattsburgh State player to net over eight markers as the Cardinals hung on for a 58-54 victory over the Panthers at Pepin Gymnasium.

By securing the non-conference triumph, the Cardinals improve to 6-3, matching their best start through the first nine games of a season in the history of the program. The Panthers, meanwhile, slide to 4-6.

Even though she wasn't her normal high-scoring self, senior Kathleen Payne handed her squad its first advantage of the evening when she hit one of her three free throw attempts after getting smacked to the deck on a long-range attempt 1:47 into the tilt.

An additional 1:13 would elapse in the initial frame before Laura Lowry was responsible for giving the Panthers their sole lead of the game after her short jumper in the painted area rattled down through the home net.

From there, the Cardinals utilized some strong defensive play to force the Panthers into a number of awkward-looking field goal attempts and some sloppy turnovers. Through the next 6:29, Middlebury was 0-for-5 from the field while the Cardinals forced a trio of turnovers.

On the offensive end of the floor, Marshall initiated a 6-0 Plattsburgh State scoring surge with a layup after accepting a fine feed from senior Brooke Reifinger. Closing out the small run with the Cardinals' first triple of the evening was Reifinger after an assist from freshman Jax Miller.

Directly after the Panthers trimmed the Plattsburgh State edge to 8-6, Marshall led the Cardinals on a 9-0 offensive blitz that pushed the lead to double figures for the first time. A layup from the 5'5 guard got things going before she closed out the spurt with a three-point play.

For the most part, the Panthers couldn't find their footing on offense for the remainder of the half. Christine Urquhart managed to lessen the Cardinals' lead to 23-17 after her jumper with 2:28 to go in the frame, but a 6-0 Plattsburgh State push that finished with a downtown make by Marshall supplied the Cardinals with their largest margin of the first half at 29-17.

Everything continued to run smoothly for the visiting squad in the deciding 20-minute stanza at an additional triple off the hand of Marshall helped Plattsburgh State open up a 38-24 advantage with 17:40 remaining in the contest.

Tequilla Lloyd helped Plattsburgh State maintain its double-digit lead after her jump shot went down and made matters 48-36 with 10:15 to go before Middlebury began the process of shrinking its deficit.

Lowry rattled in a three-pointer with 9:04 left in the game to kick-start a 9-0 run by the Panthers. During that span of 4:37, the Cardinals went 0-of-4 from the field and picked up two turnovers.

With their lead at just three, 48-45, Misha Green put an end to the Middlebury run by banking in a layup and adding a free throw as the clock read 5:28.

Strong free throw shooting in the later stages of the game allowed the Panthers to trim Plattsburgh State's advantage to 55-53 with 1:33 to go. The Cardinals caught a huge break when Scarlett Kirk misfired on a pair of free throw attempts with 54 seconds to go which would have tied the game. Instead, Marshall responded with a layup which essentially iced the game with 23 ticks left.

Another strong defensive effort by the Cardinals limited the Panthers to an 18-of-55 (32.7 percent) shooting performance which included a 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) mark from long distance. The Panthers also threw the ball away 25 times.

Plattsburgh State compiled a field goal percentage of 38.9 (21-of-54) and Devona Paul pulled down a game-high 11 of the Cardinals' 33 rebounds. Kirk led the Panthers with 13 points and eight rebounds.

On Friday night, the Cardinals will return to Memorial Hall for the first time in 2014 to begin a two-game SUNYAC home stand. Plattsburgh State and SUNY Geneseo will do battle on the hardwood beginning at 6 p.m.