NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The #4-seeded Norwich University women's basketball team (13-12, 8-4 GNAC) will travel to #1 Emmanuel College (20-6, 12-0 GNAC) for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 27, at 6:00 p.m. inside the Jean Yawkey Center in Boston, Mass.

The Cadets are seeking to advance to the GNAC Championship for the first time since 2014, after securing the program's first GNAC Semifinal berth since 2017 after a 75-61 triumph over #5 Lasell University on Wednesday evening.  The Saints, meanwhile, are looking to qualify for their first GNAC title game since 2023, after topping #8 New England College, 62-38, in Wednesday's GNAC Quarterfinal tilt.  Norwich last hoisted the GNAC crown in the 2000s, claiming titles in 2000 and 2006, before making runs to the championship game in 2007, 2010, and 2014.  Emmanuel enters as the most historically dominant program in the history of the GNAC, amassing 18 conference championships in 23 appearances since the GNAC began sponsoring a women's basketball championship in 1995-96.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Norwich:

• The Cadets enter winners of five of their last seven tilts, including Wednesday's commanding 75-61 victory over Lasell University in the GNAC Quarterfinals.  A trio of Cadets tallied double-digits, paced by a career-high 28 points from Maggi Ellsworth (West Topsham, Vt.), who poured in 28 points on 7-10 shooting, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and converting 12-14 attempts from the free-throw line while adding eight rebounds.  Gracie Laster (Arlington, Va.) added 17 points off the bench on a 6-12 mark, while Cassidy Kittredge (Waterford, Vt.) narrowly missed a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.  Norwich maintained a dominant edge in bench scoring (26-9) while shooting an efficient 45.5% from the floor and 42.9% from beyond the arc.
• Few teams in the GNAC have shot as effectively and efficiently as the Cadets, who rank second in the GNAC and within the top 100 nationally in field goal percentage at 40.9%, joining just Emmanuel College (42.0%) as conference teams to shoot at least 40.0%.  Norwich has eclipsed that mark in 15 games this season, finishing 10-5 in those contests.  Norwich's most efficient outing came in the second tilt of the season, in a 94-63 victory over Gordon College where the Cadets maintained a season-best 58.2% mark.

Emmanuel:

• The Saints enter Friday's night after an undefeated regular season in GNAC competition, claiming 12 victories over league foes while riding a five-game winning streak after a four-point non-conference loss to perennial powerhouse Tufts University on Tuesday, Feb. 10.  Emmanuel stifled New England College in Wednesday's GNAC Quarterfinal meeting in a 62-38 victory, paced by three double-digit scorers.  Tyra Blye tallied 14 points on 7-11 shooting to go with four steals to pace the effort, while Geanna Bryant added 11 points on a 5-9 mark with four assists.  Kendyl Ouimette rounded out the double-digit effort with 10 points off the bench, in a contest where 10 different Saints scored.  Emmanuel maintained a 39.7% mark on field goals, while limiting the Pilgrims to 23.6% from the floor and an 8-39 clip on two-pointers.
• While the Saints rank as the top offensive shooting team in the conference in points per game (71.9) and field goal percentage (42.0%), no GNAC team is better defensively than Emmanuel, who rank atop the league in points per game allowed (54.3), opponents' field goal percentage (33.0%), opponents' turnovers per game (27.2), steals per game (16.3), and blocks per game (3.7).  Emmanuel has held teams to 60 or less points in 17 games and 50 or less in 11 outings, while also forcing at least 30 turnovers in 10 wins this season, including generating a season-high 49 against Medgar Evers in their season-opener on Nov. 15.  The Saints' marks of turnovers forced per game and steals per game rank eighth and seventh nationally in Div. III women's basketball, respectively.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Norwich:

• The Cadets have been led by a trio of double-digit scorers this season, with Cassidy Kittredge, Maggi Ellsworth, and Gracie Laster all averaging over 10 points per game.  Kittredge paces the team with 12.5 points, having recorded double-figures in 17 of 25 appearances this season, including in her five most recent outings.  The Vermont native logged a career-best 25 points against Lasell in January, while also posting 21-point efforts in wins over Saint Joseph's College of Maine and Colby-Sawyer College.
• Ellsworth and Laster round out the double-digit scorers with 12.3 and 10.8 points, respectively.  Ellsworth has tallied double-digits in 15 games, while leading the team in rebounding (6.1) behind three double-doubles.  She registered a career-high 28 points in the GNAC Quarterfinal win over Lasell, after posting a pair of 26-point outings earlier this season against Albertus Magnus and Regis College.  Laster recorded 13 double-digit efforts this season, including a career-best 21 points against Dean College.  She tallied 20 points in the regular season opener over VTSU Castleton and regular season finale against Elms.

Emmanuel:

• Two Saints have averaged double-digits this year, with Tyra Blye and Nylah Mitchell posting identical 11.1 tallies in 25 and 22 games, respectively.  Blye has posted 13 double-digit performances this year, including a season-high 24 points at MIT in mid-November, finishing 10-13 in 28 minutes of action.  Mitchell has had an impressive freshman campaign, racking up 12 double-digit showcases, highlighted by a 27-point performance in 22 minutes on a 13-17 mark at Regis College on Feb. 3.
• Geanna Bryant has also been a catalyst for Emmanuel's success this season, sitting third on the team in scoring with 8.8 points while leading the Saints in overall assists (95) and steals (105).  The junior guard has logged 13 double-digit games this season, while snagging a season-high 12 steals at MIT in mid-November.  She has dished out five or more assists in eight games this year, including a season-best seven in outings against MIT, Emerson, and Saint Joseph (Conn.).

LAST TIME OUT:

• The Cadets and Saints met earlier this month, in a 70-49 victory for Emmanuel at the Jean Yawkey Center on Feb. 17, 2026.  Norwich controlled the contest after the opening quarter, carrying a 17-16 lead before the Saints hiked up the intensity in the second frame and seized momentum, outscoring the Cadets, 22-2, to take a 19-point edge at the half.  Emmanuel narrowly outscored the Cadets, 32-30, over the third and fourth quarters, but the Saints' lead proved too insurmountable.
• One Cadet and two Saints notched double-digits, with Cassidy Kittredge pacing the effort on 13 points while Lily Briggs (Fair Haven, Vt.) dished out a career-high 10 assists.  Lia Krumian led the Saints with 17 points with three triples alongside five assists, while Tyra Blye added 15 points.  Emmanuel maintained a 42.9% clip while holding Norwich to just 1-5 from long range, with the Saints' defense generating 29 turnovers and scoring 28 points off those misfeeds.

HISTORY ON THE HARDWOOD:

• The 2025-26 campaign has been a return to form for the historically dominant Saints, who have amassed 20 wins for the first time since the 2022-23 campaign.  Emmanuel fell to Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the GNAC Quarterfinals last season, closing the 2024-25 season with a 14-13 overall record and 8-6 in league play.  This year, the Saints went 6-4 during the first semester before erupting in the second half of the year, amassing a 16-2 record since the flip of the calendar year.  Emmanuel's lone losses in that stretch have come in narrow non-conference battles at Roger Williams University (59-54) and Tufts University (61-57).  The Saints' perfect 12-0 mark in GNAC action have all come by double-digit margins, with Lasell University coming the closest in a 13-point decision (73-60) in favor of Emmanuel.  Since their Feb. 10 loss at Tufts, the Saints have racked up victories over Dean College (103-63), Mitchell College (95-59), Norwich (70-49), Rivier University (83-43), and New England College (62-38) with an average margin of victory of 32.2 points.
• The Cadets continue their postseason run after missing out on the tournament last year, finishing the 2024-25 campaign with a 10-14 overall record and 4-10 mark in the GNAC.  Norwich closed the first semester with a 4-7 record, but have fared significantly better in the second semester with an 8-5 mark since the new year.  Since back-to-back victories over Colby-Sawyer and Mitchell to open February, the Cadets have gone back-and-forth in the win-loss column in their final four regular season outings with wins over the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) and Elms College and losses to New England College and Emmanuel College.
• Norwich and Emmanuel last met in the conference tournament four years ago, on Feb. 23, 2022, in the GNAC Quarterfinals, in a 69-47 win for the top-seeded Saints.  Haley Brewster led the Cadets with 15 points on five three-pointers, while MacKenzie Moore added nine points.  Loredana D'Agostino paced Emmanuel with 14 points, while Jamad Fiin and Olivia Matela added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
• The Cadets are on the hunt for their fifth-ever victory over the Saints, who have been historically dominant across the league.  Norwich secured highly-coveted wins over Emmanuel in 1993, 2000, 2006, and most recently in 2014, when the eighth-seeded Cadets topped the first-seeded Saints in the GNAC Quarterfinals, 84-78 in overtime, in what has been hailed as the "greatest win in Norwich Athletics history."  The win halted Emmanuel's 64-game winning streak against GNAC foes that had dated back to 2010, while also ending the Saints' run for an eighth-straight GNAC championship.

GNAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET (Hosted by higher seeds):

• Wednesday, Feb. 25 - QUARTERFINALS
  • #1 Emmanuel def. #8 New England College, 62-38
  • #2 Saint Joseph's (Maine) def. #7 University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 87-47
  • #6 Albertus Magnus def. #3 Regis, 65-60
  • #4 Norwich def. #5 Lasell, 75-61
• Friday, Feb. 27 - SEMIFINALS
  • #4 Norwich at #1 Emmanuel – 6:00 p.m.
  • #6 Albertus Magnus at #2 Saint Joseph's (Maine) – 7:00 p.m.
• Sunday, Mar. 1 - CHAMPIONSHIP
  • Semifinal Winners - TBD

Friday's winner advances into the GNAC Championship on Sunday, Mar. 1, to play the victor of #2 Saint Joseph's College of Maine and #6 Albertus Magnus College.  Saint Joseph's defeated reigning GNAC champions University of Saint Joseph in Wednesday's GNAC Quarterfinals, while Albertus Magnus usurped Regis College in Wednesday's lone upset.  Sunday's championship game will be hosted by the highest remaining seed among Friday's victors.  The tournament, originally scheduled for Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, was rescheduled to Wednesday/Friday/Sunday due to the recent snowstorm.