Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sophomore Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) led the team with a team high 20-points but it was not enough as the Norwich University women's basketball team fell short to Emmanuel College, 59-57, in the final seconds of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
The loss puts Norwich at 10-3 overall and 2-2 in league play, while Emmanuel improves to 7-8 on the year and 2-0 in the conference.
LeBlanc added 11 rebounds in the loss to record her fourth double-doubles of the year. Freshman guard
Shyann Josler (Thetford, Vt.) netted 14 points with a pair of assists, while
Arianna Harrison (Vernon, Vt.), Leah Turcotte (North Highlands, Calif.), and
Katrina Laidlaw (Dunblane, Scotland) scored six points each with Harrison pulling down 12 rebounds on the day.
Sarah Higgins scored a career-high 27 points for the Saints as Jennifer Bunjnowski and Jen Chalk scored eight and seven points, respectively.
Emmanuel jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first four minutes of the frame before Laidlaw put in a layup to start an 11-0 run for the Cadets, leading 15-8 at the 12:25 mark before the Saints were forced to burn a timeout. Emmanuel looked to stay in contention, trailing by four points until the 8:57 mark when
Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) found Turcotte open on the right side for the three-pointer to start a 9-4 run for the 29-18 advantage with 4:20 to play.
With just over three minutes remaining in the half and Norwich leading 31-22, the Saints got a three-pointer from Karlee Alves before Harrison and LeBlanc posted five points on a layup and a free throw, respectively, as the Cadets headed into the locker room with a 34-27 lead.
After the break, the Saints wasted no time, scoring six unanswered points before nailing a three-pointer to knot the game up at 36 at the 12:22 mark. The next three minutes saw three equalizers before Laidlaw put up four points for the Cadets, only to be matched by Emmanuel with an 8-2 run to tie it up at 50 with 3:55 remaining in the game.
The game would come down to the wire as both teams found themselves at the charity stripe in the next three minutes with Emmanuel leading 58-55 on a Higgins' free throw with 54 seconds remaining. The Cadets quickly responded with a layup by LeBlanc and went into full court pressure before Harrison fouled to put the Saints at the free throw line in the final two seconds. Higgins would hit one of the two shots from the stripe as LeBlanc pulled in her 11th rebound of the game and hauled the ball across the court, only to watch it fall short as the Saints held on for the 59-57 victory.
The Cadets shot 35.7 percent from the floor and made 69.6 percent of their free throws, while Emmanuel hit 32.9 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from the charity stripe.
Norwich will be back in action on Monday, Jan. 19 when it hosts Suffolk University in a 5:30 p.m. GNAC matchup.
