PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Junior guard Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) poured in a career-high 24 points, but the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team closed out the 2021 portion of its schedule with an 81-60 loss to non-conference Middlebury College on Wednesday evening at Memorial Hall.
 
Smith shot 7-of-15 from the floor, 4-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the line in addition to dishing out four assists. First-year forward Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) scored 14 points and added four rebounds, while junior guard Kanesha Strider (Long Island, N.Y./Longwood) handed out a career-high four assists.
 
For Middlebury, first-year guard Alexa Mustafaj matched Smith's game-high total of 24 points, while sophomore guard/forward Bethany Lucey and junior guard/forward Claire Miller notched 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
The Cardinals shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the floor and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the line, while Middlebury was 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the field. The Panthers finished with a 46-28 edge in rebounds, while the Cardinals scored 19 points off 12 Panther turnovers.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 3-6 overall with the loss and opens up the New Year with a 1 p.m. game at Clarkson University on Monday, Jan. 3, at 1 p.m. Middlebury rises to 6-3 overall with the win and next visits Union College on Thursday, Dec. 30, at 3 p.m.
 
The Cardinals fired the opening salvo, scoring the first five points of the game off a pair of made free throws by senior guard Brittani Campbell (Rochester, N.Y./Edison Tech) and a 3-pointer by Smith. The Panthers countered with a 5-2 run to tie the game before Smith put Plattsburgh State back on top midway through the first quarter with a layup. The two sides traded points until Middlebury closed the opening stanza on a 9-0 run and took a 20-13 advantage through 10 minutes of play.
 
It took 2:21 for either team to reach the scoreboard in the second, but Middlebury's Miller broke the ice by going 1-of-2 at the line. Couture cashed in on an old-fashioned 3-point play to whittle the deficit to five before the Panthers netted eight unanswered points to construct a 29-16 advantage. Plattsburgh State came back within striking distance with 3:11 left in the second quarter after a 3-pointer by Smith capped a 7-0 Cardinal surge, but Middlebury slowly extended its lead down the stretch in the period, taking a 41-30 cushion into the locker rooms.
 
After Miller scored to open up the third quarter, the Cardinals received a pair of layups from Smith and junior forward Misa Dowdell (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Scholars Academy) to cut the gap to nine, but the Panthers received a trey from sophomore guard Gianna Palli to swell the advantage back up to double digits. The two teams traded baskets until Plattsburgh State went on a 5-0 run, and a midrange jumper by senior forward Kelly Degnan (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) trimmed the deficit to nine at 52-43. While Smith nailed a 3-pointer to slice the lead to 53-46 following a Panther free throw, Middlebury closed the third with 10 straight points to take a 63-46 lead into the final quarter.
 
After Middlebury took a 65-47 advantage early in the fourth, Plattsburgh State went on a 6-1 tear, and a pair of Strider free throws pulled the Cardinals within 66-53. That wound up being the closest the home team would get in the waning minutes of the game, as the Panthers took their largest lead of the night when sophomore forward Emily Downer knocked down a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left.