SALEM, Mass.—The Norwich University women's basketball team opened the 2013-14 season by falling 66-55 to Bowdoin College on Friday evening at the Salem State Tip-Off Tournament. The game marked the season opener for both teams.

Junior Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) paced the Cadets with a game-high 21 points on 6-19 shooting from the floor (2-3 from three-point range) and 7-9 shooting from the free-throw line. Classmate Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) chipped in with 15 points, while senior Erin Clark (Newbury, Vt.) chipped in with six. Junior Katrina Laidlaw (Dunblane, Scotland) led the Cadets defensively with eight rebounds.

Senior Kristin Brown (Williamstown, Vt.) dished out a game-high five assists for Norwich and recorded three steals.

The Polar Bears were paced by Kirsten Prue with 14 points. Shannon Brady added 12 points off the bench, and starter Megan Phelps added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Bowdoin opened the game with a 7-0 run and held a 15-point lead midway through the first half, the largest lead of the game. Norwich responded by outscoring the Bears 20-9 in the final 8:30 of the first half, and trailed by four at 32-28 at halftime.

Norwich was able to cut Bowdoin's lead to three points six minutes into the second half, but a three-point basket by Marle Curle and a jumper by Brady opened the margin back to eight points. The Cadets made one more attack on the Polar Bears' lead with 6:46 to play in the game as a three-pointer by Lotti made it a two-point game at 49-47. Bowdoin hit back-to-back baskets to open the gap and the Bears outscored Norwich 17-8 in the final six minutes en route to the win.

Points scored by non-starters made the difference in the game, as Bowdoin received 26 points from the bench, while the Norwich bench scored just five points. The Cadets did force 20 Bowdoin turnovers and netted 19 points off turnovers, while the Polar Bears posted just nine points of Norwich's 15 turnovers.

Norwich will take on New Jersey City tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game of the Salem State Tip-Off Challenge. Bowdoin will face host Salem State, which defeated New Jersey City 66-63, in the championship game at 3:00 p.m.