MADISON, N.J. – Middlebury College combined a hot shooting night with a dominating performance on the glass to earn the Rose City Classic championship with a 74-39 victory over Shenandoah Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers (2-0) shot 53 percent (29 of 55) and grabbed 40 of the game's 54 rebounds to dispatch the Hornets (2-1). Those 40 rebounds led to a 15-2 advantage in second chance points.

Middlebury scored 14 of the game's initial 16 points to take a lead it would not relinquish and kept up the pressure throughout the 40-minute contest.

After junior Kirstyn Arcata drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close out the first quarter, the Panthers expanded their lead from 10 to 22 points by outscoring SU 16-4 in the first 6:24 of the second.

Arcata snapped the string with a layup at 3:09, but Shenandoah would get no closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

Middlebury had another run, this one 14-2, to start the third and saw its lead grow to 51-17 with 6:07 left in that period.

Senior Mary Severin, who was named to the All-Tournament team, combined with classmate Erin French to score 10 of the game's next 12 points and to bring the deficit back under 30 points.

Severin finished the game with six points and was once again perfect from the field and at the charity stripe. In two games, she made all seven of her field goal attempts and was 8 for 8 from the line.

Arcata had a team-high nine points for coach Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft's club.

Shenandoah is back in action on Tuesday in a 4 p.m. non-league home matinee versus Elmira (N.Y.) College.

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