ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Middlebury College women’s basketball team opened its season this past weekend with a pair of wins in Oneonta College’s four-team tournament.
On Saturday, the Panthers edged Hartwick, 61-58, as freshman post player Catherine Harrison led the way with 20 points, nine rebounds and a key late block.
Hartwick led, 26-15, in the first half until the Panthers used a 7-0 run to come within three at 28-25 at the halftime break.
In a seesaw second half, the Panthers twice took leads on hoops from Colleen Caveney, including at 41-40, but the game was tied for the eighth time at 58-58 with 1:11 remaining. Panther Sarah Kaufman hit a free throw with 48 seconds left, and then Harrison blocked a Hartwick shot with 27 seconds left and grabbed the rebound. Harrison then scored with six seconds left to make it a 61-58 final.
Harrison hit nine of 20 shots from the floor. Caveney finished with 12 points, while Kaufman scored 10. Alex Huffman grabbed eight rebounds to go along with her six points. Middlebury finished the game shooting 48 percent from the floor.
On Friday, Kaufman scored a team-high 23 points and the Panther defense limited host Oneonta to just 18.7 percent shooting as the Panthers picked up a 60-38 victory. 
Kaufman led three Panthers in double figures and also dished out six assists. Catherine Harrison recorded a double-double in her initial collegiate game with 12 points and a game-high 15 boards. Sabrina Weeks also finished with a double-double with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
The Panthers were set to visit Johnson State on Tuesday after the early deadline for this edition of the Independent. Their next game comes at Skidmore on Dec. 1.