WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Devon Diliberto scored 21 points and Shauna Sullivan had her third consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds as the University of Saint Joseph basketball team defeated Norwich University 76-63 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game Thursday at the O'Connell Center.

St. Joseph improved to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the GNAC. Norwich is 10-10 and 2-5 in league play.

USJ won its fourth conference game in a row. The Blue Jays took good care of the ball with just 10 turnovers on the night while forcing 19. In its four-game winning streak, USJ has forced 97 turnovers while committing just 46. Today, the Blue Jays held a 17-10 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.

Junior Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) led Norwich with 24 points including an 11-for-11 performance at the free throw line. She is now just 80 points shy of setting a new all-time scoring record at Norwich. Classmate Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) scored 21 for the Cadets and freshman Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) had eight points and 12 rebounds.

The Blue Jays used just six players and got contributions from all of them: Mary Hyde had 11 points, six steals and five assists, Brianna Ferraro scored 17, Heather Framski had eight points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots and Lindsey Dionne scored nine.

Lotti scored 10 points and LeBlanc six in the first 9:30 to help Norwich to its biggest lead of the night at 18-10, but USJ chipped away and led 30-28 at halftime.

The Blue Jays relinquished the lead for just 23 seconds in the second half. A pair of free throws by Curry put Norwich in front, 47-46, with 9:16 to play, but Diliberto followed with a jumper with 8:53 left and the Blue Jays edged ahead throughout the closing stages.

Both teams' leading scorers broke out after quiet first halves. Curry was 1-for-13 shooting and had four first-half points, but had 20 after the intermission. Diliberto was 1-for-3 for two first-half points, but shot 6-for-8 in the second half, 4-for-5 from three-point range and had 19 points after the break.

Norwich totaled a 34.3 percent (23-67) effort from the floor over the course of both halves, but the Blue Jays connected on 24 field goals in 53 attempts for a 41.4 percent effort. The Cadets attempted 19 three-pointers on the evening but were successful on just four (21.1 percent), compared to the Blue Jays' 42.9 percent (6-14) effort from behind the arc.

The Cadets held a 22-18 advantage in points scored in the paint and held a narrow 10-9 lead in bench points, powered by eight points off the bench from Tory Kethro (Barnstable, Mass.).

Norwich is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 8 when it hosts Anna Maria College in a 3:00 p.m. GNAC matchup.