Women's Basketball

Box Score 

WORCESTER, Mass. - Elle Fontaine scored a game-high 23 points, and Theresa Logan added 22 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench as the WPI women's basketball team defeated Norwich University, 70-54, in an ECAC New England Tournament quarterfinal contest Wednesday evening at Harrington Auditorium.

Melissa Kuhn chipped in 14 points for the Engineers, who advance to the tournament's semifinals on Saturday. The Cadets, meanwhile, see their promising 2009-10 campaign come to an end.

WPI (20-9) used a 27-9 run spanning the last five minutes of the first half and the first three minutes of the second have to turn a 26-24 deficit into a 51-35 advantage. The Engineers' cushion never dipped below 13 points the rest of the way as they coasted to the victory.

Norwich (20-8) was led by senior G Ally Daniels, who poured in a team-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior F Jess Jaggars posted her 11th double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 16 caroms.

WPI jumped out to a 7-2 lead just three minutes into the contest and the Engineers were able to maintain their lead throughout the first 10 minutes. WPI led 16-11 at the 12:23 mark, but an 8-2 spurt by Norwich gave the Cadets their first lead of the contest (19-18) with 9:21 to play in the opening half.

The game see-sawed back and forth over the next several minutes, and Norwich clung to a 26-24 edge with 5:16 to play following a lay-up by senior G Kylie Cowens. WPI began to pull away over the next three minutes, however, reeling off a 13-2 spurt to open up a 37-28 lead with 2:10 remaining in the half and the Engineers carried a 41-33 advantage into the intermission.

The Engineers, who made six of their last nine shots in the first half, shot 46.9 percent (15-of-32) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The Cadets, meanwhile, connected on just 38.9 percent (14-of-36) of their first half field goal attempts.

Fontaine led all scorers in the first half with 14 points. Logan made 6-of-7 field goals for 12 points. Daniels paced Norwich in the opening frame with 13 points, while Jaggars added 10 points and seven boards.

Fontaine scored the first five points of the second half to help WPI extend its cushion to 46-33 less than two minutes into the stanza. The Engineers' lead swelled to 51-35 moments later, forcing Norwich to call a timeout.

A three-pointer by Daniels halted the WPI run, but a 7-2 spurt by the Engineers gave the hosts a commanding 58-40 lead with 11:56 to play. WPI's lead ballooned to as many as 20 points, and Norwich never seriously threatened again.

WPI shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the field for the game, while Norwich made 31.3 percent (21-of-67) of its shots from the floor. Both teams made four three-pointers in the contest.

In other ECAC Tournament quarterfinal action, top-seeded Keene State defeated eighth-seeded Suffolk, 84-54; second-seeded Regis downed seventh-seeded Worcester State, 63-53; and sixth-seeded Plymouth State upset third-seeded Endicott 70-59.