NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich women's basketball team faced a season-ending loss in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference quarterfinal round to St. Joseph's (Conn.), 86-70, in Andrews Hall on Tuesday night.

Having beaten the Blue Jays 83-72 earlier in the season at Norwich, the Cadets earned home court advantage in the 8-4 conference record tie. St. Joseph's 57-percent shooting from the field was the difference on the scoreboard against Norwich's 44.8-percent.

Senior forward Laurel McWilliams put up 25 points and 13 boards, while classmate Christine Daniels snuck in her final rebound with four seconds remaining to complete her perfect season record of 26-of-26 “double-doubles,” tallying 11 points and 10 boards.

McWilliams and Daniels made three assists and two steals apiece, as did freshman Kristin Brown who netted 10 points in the game. Senior Karissa Doyon shot 8-of-17 for a 20-point performance, sinking two trifectas.

Freshmen Mary Hyde and Devon Diliberto led the Blue Jays with 20-plus point performances, combining for 41 points of the final score. Diliberto also made four steals in the action, while freshmen Diamond Doe and Chelsea Alves netted 14 points and 11 points respectively.

The game started out with a lot of back and forth action until Norwich controlled the lead on a Daniels' jumper. Hyde brought possession back to the Blue Jays midway through the first half, but McWilliams sank a 3-pointer for a 23-21 lead.

Alves came back a minute later after Hyde tied the game with the trifecta that gave the Blue Jays the winning advantage.

With the score at an eight-point, 39-31 spread at the half, the Cadets worked to close the gap but St. Joseph's had other plans in mind, as they stretched their lead to 18 points on two occasions.

Norwich was only able to come within eight points of their conference rivals, but found they were trailing by 19 with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Daniels sank one of her free-throws with four seconds on the clock, as McWilliams followed up with a layup in the final second of the game's 86-70 loss.

The Cadets wrapped up their 2010-11 season with an overall record of 16-10 and were 8-4 in the GNAC conference for the regular season headed into tonight's postseason play.

St. Joseph's (Conn.) is now 19-6 overall and will advance to the semifinal round where they will meet the undefeated Saint of Emmanuel College on Thursday night.

-CADETS-