Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Norwich University women's basketball team picked up their fifth straight win as the Cadets knocked off the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College, 75-55, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) scored a team-high 30 points as sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) collected a double-doubles, her fourth of the season, on 13 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Shyann Josler (Thetford, Vt.) hit three treys and went 3-of-4 from the field to finish the day with 11 points. In the win, Curry became the all-time career points leader for both men's and women's basketball in Norwich history.
Four minutes into the start of the game and Norwich leading 6-4 at the 16:26 mark, senior guard Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.), who scored eight points in the win, made the trey that sparked a 13-4 run in a span of six minutes for the eight point lead. Albertus Magnus looked to rally midway through the half, cutting the deficit down to five for the 29-24 score with 2:13 remaining in the frame before Curry connected with Arianna Harrison (Vernon, Vt.), who tallied nine points and 11 rebounds, for the jumper as the Cadets led 31-24 at the break.
The Cadets opened the second stanza scoring six unanswered points before Albertus Magnus made its first basket three minutes into the half. Another Cadet run ensued, this time an 8-0 spree, as Norwich's lead swelled to 18 points for the 42-26 score. The Falcons would battle their way into contention, cutting the deficit down to eight at the 3:19 mark, however it would be the closest Albertus Magnus would get as the Falcons would find themselves in foul trouble. The Cadets would close out the contest with Curry, who would score 20 points in the half, hitting six of the eight free throws for the 75-65 win.
Albertus Magnus had three players score in double digits with freshman forward Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Mass.) leading the squad with 17 points, while classmate Kiki Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) added 16 points and junior forward Kelsey Pendagast (Shelton, Conn.) putting up 12 points in the loss.
The Cadets would shoot 37.5 percent from the floor (24-64) and made 75.9 percent (22-29) of the shots from the free throw line, edging Albertus Magnus' 75 percent (15-20) from the stripe while the Falcons shot 35.4 percent from the field. Norwich would score 22 points on 2nd chances, 26 points in the paint, and outrebounded the Falcons 49-41. Albertus Magnus managed to score eight points on fastbreaks and 20 points off of Norwich's 15 turnovers in the loss.
Norwich will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 3 as the Cadets host Plymouth State College for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference contest.
