Women's Basketball Suffers First Loss of Season, 61-59

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior guard Karissa Doyon's (Beecher Falls, Vt.) foul line jumper with 5.1 seconds left snapped a 59-all tie and led the Norwich women's basketball team to its first win of the 2010-2011 season, a 61-59 triumph over Wentworth in a non-conference game played at Tansey Gymnasium.

Doyon's heroics capped off a second-half comeback that saw the visitors rally from a 14-point deficit with 14:05 to play and included Doyon scoring her team's last six points.

The early portion of the game saw the Black & Gold build up a five-point lead on three occasions, including with 13:33 remaining when sophomore guard Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) hit a baseline jumper to give Wentworth a 15-10 lead.  Norwich went on an 8-0 run to take an 18-15 lead with 11:35 left when junior forward Jocelyn Fasulo (Contoocook, N.H.) converted a three-point play, sophomore guard Jessalyn Sweeney (Standfordville, Vt.) drained a three, and Fasulo had a fast-break layup.  The hosts countered with a 14-0 run to take a 29-18 lead with 6:18 when junior guard Megan Pennock (Littleton, N.H.) had a fast-break layup.  During the run, Conway had a pair of three pointers.

Norwich trimmed the lead to six three times, and the Leopards took a 35-27 lead into the locker room.  Wentworth made the most of 11 Cadet turnovers in the first half, scoring 13 points.

Leading by eight early in the second half, sophomore Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) hit a free throw, when was followed by a pair of free throws and a three pointer from Conway to extend the lead to 43-29 with 14:05 remaining.  Wentworth was held scoreless over the next 5:14, while the Cadets cut the lead to 43-41.  Doyon scored seven straight points, including two free throws with 10:20 left to cut the lead to a pair.

The Cadets took their first lead of the half on a Sweeney trifecta with 8:49 left, and, after the teams traded leads, Sweeney scored five straight points to give Norwich a 55-50 lead with 5:26 remaining..  Biggar score Wentworth's next seven points, giving the hosts a 57-55 lead with 2:21 left.  With 2:07 remaining, Doyon hit a jumper to tie the game before Leopard senior Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) gave Wentworth the lead back with 1:09 left.  Doyon hit two free throws with 54 seconds left to tie the game, and on the ensuing possession, Wentworth missed a field goal attempt, giving the ball back to Norwich with 28 seconds left.

Norwich called time out with 11 seconds left and Doyon worked herself free to the left side of the free throw line and drained the game-winning jumper.  Wentworth had one last shot, but the last-second shot was off the mark.

Doyon led all scorers with 19 points, to go along with pulling down eight rebounds, while Sweeney had 18 points and nine rebounds.  Senior forward Christine Daniels (Concord, N.H.) chipped in with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Norwich, which held the Leopards to 26.9 percent shooting in the second half.

Biggar had 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and three steals for Wentworth, while Conway had 15 points.  Vallone hauled down 14 caroms for the hosts.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday.  Norwich (1-2) is at Middlebury, while Wentworth (2-1) is at Suffolk.