NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) led all scorers with 29 points as the Norwich women's basketball team raced out to a 15-1 lead to open the game and never looked back, defeating Wentworth, 68-45, in a non-conference contest.
After falling behind early the Leopards clawed their way back into the game by using a 9-0 run to make it a 15-10 game with 11:09 left when junior guard Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) buried a three pointer. However, the Cadets scored 20 of the half's final 29 points and took a 35-19 lead into the break.
Back-to-back baskets from junior forward Morgan Furman (Falmouth, Maine) and Biggar trimmed the Leopards deficit to a dozen (35-23) with less than two minutes played in the second stanza. However, Norwich responded with a 7-0 run – with six of the points coming from Curry – to push the Cadet lead to 19.
The Cadets led by as many as 18 before the Leopards would get as close as 13 (53-40) on a pair of sophomore forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) with 5:34 remaining in the contest. A 9-0 Norwich run would extend the lead to 22 late in the contest.
Curry went 9-for-16 field goal from the floor, including a 4-for-9 effort from outside the arc. Senior guard Karissa Doyon (Beecher Falls, Vt.) added 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. While senior Jocelyn Fasulo (Contoocock, N.H.) had seven blocked shots.
Biggar and Kerr each posted double-doubles for the Leopards, with Biggar scoring 15 points and grabbing a dozen rebounds, while Kerr scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) had 10 rebounds off the bench for the Black & Gold.
With the win Norwich improves to 4-6 and concludes first semester play on Tuesday when the Cadets are at in-state rival Castleton State. Wentworth concludes first semester play with an 0-8 mark. The Leopards are idle until January 4 when they travel to 14th-ranked Colby.
