Friday Night Lights: Top Matchups to Watch Part 2 – MMU vs BFA

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tonight looks to be an exciting night in VT basketball. We've got the top six D1 teams in action with #1 CVU facing #3 Burlington, and #2 MMU vs #6 BFA St. Albans. Then #4 Essex visits South Burlington while Rice heads to the NEK to visit #5 St. Johnsbury. Let's get a look at the top two games. I covered CVU vs BHS in part 1, now its MMU vs BFA. Tap in!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#2 Mount Mansfield vs #6 BFA. St. Albans</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mount Mansfield has opened the season on a tear, undefeated through five games. But BFA has bounced back after opening the season with two losses, winning four straight since then. Can BFA break MMU's undefeated streak and capture a huge win at home?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>MMU seems to have all the key elements of a winning team. They have a plethora of size with scoring with<strong> 5'10 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='645777' first='Bella' last='Schultz Mitchell']</strong>, <strong>5'9 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='649624' first='Brianna' last='Brownell']</strong>, and <strong>5'11 2027 Mesa Long</strong>. All three contribute big on the boards, particularly Brianna and Mesa, two that combine for around 20 boards a game. All three find a ton of offense at the rim, especially Long who feasts on the blocks. Plus, <strong>Brianna </strong>and <strong>Bella </strong>are knockdown from 3 and have been all season. To add to the scoring, <strong>5'8 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='645675' first='Meghan' last='Thompson']</strong> has been lighting it up so far. She's a green light from distance and her slashing has opened up because of it. To round them out, <strong>5'9 2024 Marissa Groleau</strong>, a versatile defender and facilitator of the offense. Plus, <strong>5'7 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='630359' first='Delilah' last='Locher']</strong> and <strong>5'7 2027 Aly Doorman</strong>, two astute guards who distribute the rock, knock down open jumpers, and defend hard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Meanwhile, BFA is consistently a team that brings relentless effort. The backcourt duo of <strong>5'7 2024 [player_tooltip player_id='496182' first='Ruby' last='Dasaro']</strong> and <strong>5'7 2025 Cadence Lafferty </strong>combine to create a whole lot of havoc with their ball pressure, long wingspans and open court athleticism + finishing. Add <strong>5'6 2024 Tessa Sweeney</strong> to that mix too because she can really muck it up and then break out in transition. <strong>5'9 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='648143' first='Jade' last='Garceau']</strong> and <strong>5'9 2026 [player_tooltip player_id='491799' first='Hailey' last='Carey']</strong> play similar roles, bringing versatility to the wing/forward slot with swiss-army knife work as defenders and gluey offensive players. BFA brings a lot of toughness on the defensive end and sound offensive IQ, but the offensive creation and scoring firepower doesn't bring the same oomph that MMU does.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BFA is rolling right now, but MMU even more so. I have MMU taking this one in a convincing double-digit victory due to extensive depth, rebounding prowess, and myriad scoring options. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->