WESTON, Mass. - The Norwich University women's basketball team saw its comeback chances dashed in the waning minutes in a 69-64 defeat at Regis College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Higgins Court on Wednesday evening.

Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) paced the offense, posting another double-double behind 17 points and 10 caroms, while turning away two shots, snagging two steals, and dishing out a pair of helpers.  Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) added 13 points, while Jessica Zimmerman (Turner, Maine) handed out a career-best seven assists.

The first quarter saw both teams exchange baskets, as the Cadets took a pair of leads before the Pride gradually built an eight-point lead.  McGinn and Brewster rallied Norwich, combining for a 6-0 spurt to end the frame.

A similar theme followed in the second stanza, but Regis got the better of things after Brewster brought the Pride's lead back down to five, as the hosts rushed out to a 13-point advantage with a minute left.

Regis appeared to be in control of the contest throughout the third, building a 16-point lead, but the Cadets gained momentum throughout the closing sequences, as Eleonore Collins (Waterville, N.Y.), Siobhan O'Donnell (Glendale, N.Y.), and Zimmerman tallied three-straight baskets to whittle the edge back down to single-digits.

The Pride kept the Cadets at bay, but Norwich continued to threaten their lead, dwindling it down to four with 21 seconds left on a Sage MacAuley (Barre, Vt.) freebie, but time ran short on the Cadets' hopes of completing the comeback.

The Cadets maintained significant leads in bench points (24-8) and points in the paint (36-26), while shooting a blistering 46.6% clip from the floor.  Norwich held a 43-31 edge in the rebounding battle.

Norwich will return home for two-straight, first hosting Dean College in a conference bout on Saturday, Jan. 20, with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.  The Cadets will then battle Colby-Sawyer College in Andrews Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 24.