Box Score Courtesy of Gordon College Sports Information
WENHAM, Mass.—The Norwich University women's basketball team took home the title at the Gordon College Classic with a 57-47 victory over the host Fighting Scots. The Cadets defeated third-place winner New England College on Friday night before running away from the Scots in the final three minutes of Saturday's game to clinch the tournament championship.
In the championship game, Tournament MVP senior Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) scored more than half of her team's points to lead the Cadets to a late rally past the Fighting Scots and their fourth straight win. Curry tallied 30 points on the day and 54 for the weekend, as Norwich ended the game on a 17-5 run for the 10-point victory.
Curry was nearly unstoppable in the first half for the Cadets, who built a 27-22 halftime lead. Gordon was able to limit the scoring from the rest of Norwich's team, but Curry's ability to find an open look made a difference in the first half. Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) led Gordon in scoring with seven first-half points.
The Fighting Scots found an offensive groove in the second half and eventually took a two-point lead with just over six minutes to play in regulation. Senior guard Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.) flipped the momentum back in Norwich's favor with back-to-back triples in a one-minute span. A couple of Gordon turnovers and subsequent fouls allowed the Cadets to pull away in the closing minutes.
With Curry leading the Cadets' attack, only one other Norwich player finished with double-digit scoring—sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) with 10 points. LeBlanc and freshman guard Arianna Harrison (Vernon, Vt.) each finished with six rebounds. Senior guard Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) was also named to the All-Tournament team after an outstanding effort on Friday night versus the Pilgrims.
Kratche led the Fighting Scots with 17 points in the game and scored her 1,000th career point with a bucket in the final 10 seconds of play. Mariel Barner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 14 points for the Scots, while Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) picked up the Scots All-Tournament nod with eight points and 12 rebounds. The freshman was the leading rebounder in the tournament.
Norwich will return to action in two weeks to open conference play on the road at Suffolk University on Dec. 2 for the 7:00 p.m. tilt.
All-Tournament Team
Michelle Woods (Wheelock)
Taylor Burgess (New England College)
Sophie Linnell (Gordon)
Kelsey Lotti (Norwich)
MVP: Aliah Curry (Norwich)
