MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Senior guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Vt.) scored 14 points to lead the Norwich University women's basketball team to a 55-49 non-conference win against in-state foe Middlebury College on Tuesday night in Pepin Gymnasium.

Sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-doubles of the year, while senior guard Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) added 12 points on the night.

Norwich (5-1) jumped out in front with a 5-0 lead on a jumper from senior Tory Kethro (Barnstable, Mass.) followed by a 3-pointer from sophomore Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.) in the opening seconds of the tip-off before Middlebury (4-2) added a shot from beyond the arc to get on the board. The Cadets responded with another run as Mercer nailed her second 3-pointer for the 10-2 run to give Norwich the 15-5 lead with 14:40 to play.

Middlebury looked to muster from the deficit but the Panthers struggled to find the net, shooting 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from the field. Norwich maintained the lead throughout the half leading by as many as 13 points at the 5:46 mark as the Cadets, who pulled in 30 total rebounds in the stanza, closed out the half with a 28-16 lead at the break.

Norwich continued to maintain the lead throughout the second half, leading by 15 points at the 8:33 mark before Middlebury woke up on a Sabrina Weeks' layup to spur a 10-0 run, cutting the Panther's deficit to five points with just 1:08 remaining in the game.

Middlebury went into full press, hoping to continue its run however the Cadets were fouled three times and made three of its five shots to extend the lead to six before fending off a late Panther attack for the 55-49 victory.

Sarah Kaufman led the Panthers with 16 points as Weeks finished the night with 10 points and eight rebounds for Middlebury.

Norwich returns to action Friday as the Cadets play host to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Classic. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. at Andrews Hall.