NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Eleven different players scored to lead the Norwich University women's basketball team to a 58-34 win against the Sharks of Simmons College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) actionon Thursday evening.
With the win, the Cadets improve to 9-8 on the season and 2-3 in GNAC play, while the loss drops the Sharks to 2-13 overall and 0-4 against league opponents.
The Sharks were led by Liz Brasa (East Hartford, Conn.) with 11 points and five rebounds. Leah Davis (Cranston, R.I.) and Hannah May (Hamden, Conn.) both chipped in with seven points, while Desh Perera (Reading, Mass.) recorded a game-high three steals.
Junior Aliah Curry scored 12 points on the evening, while junior Kelsey Lotti hit 13 and senior Erin Clark recorded a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Heather LeBlanc scored eight points and added eight rebounds, while senior Kristin Brown dished out a game-high five assists.
Norwich scored the opening basket and would never trail, as the game saw zero lead changes. The Cadets held an early nine-point lead, 14-5, following a three-point basket by Lotti at the 12:42 mark. Norwich's lead would reach double-figures in the ensuing minutes and peaked at 20 points, 32-12, on a three-point basket by Curry with 3:13 still to play in the half. Minutes later, Simmons' Perera would convert a layup to mark the final basket of the first frame and set the 34-17 halftime score.
The Cadets maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game despite hitting just six field goals (20.7 percent) in the second half, a significant contrast from their 14-29 (48.3 percent) first-half effort.
Simmons connected on 12 field goals on the evening in 48 shot attempts (25.0 percent) and finished 8-12 (66.7 percent) from the free-throw line.
Norwich held advantages in points in the paint (24-12), points scored off turnovers (21-11) and second-chance points (13-6).
The Cadets will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 1 as they host the Raiders of Rivier University in a 1:00 p.m.GNAC matchup, while the Sharks return to the court on Feb. 4 at Emmanuel.