Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) became the first player in Norwich University women's basketball history to score 2,000 career points in the Cadets' 69-65 victory over Johnson & Wales Saturday afternoon at Andrews Gymnasium.
Curry finished with a game-high 27 points in the contest, pushing her total to 2,021 points and counting. Curry is the first player in Great Northeast Athletic Conference history to record 2,000 points and remains the all-time career points leader at Norwich.
Curry would open the tip-off with a long shot from beyond the arc before achieving the milestone at the 18:46 mark with another long bomber with the Cadets leading 8-3. After a brief break to celebrate her accomplishments, the Cadets went back to work with
Kayla Mercer adding a three-pointer of her own as the Cadets expanded the lead to 10 points at the 13:53 mark.
Johnson & Wales (10-7, 2-1 GNAC) responded quickly as Raquel Pederzani nailed a three-pointer to start a 9-2 run for the Wildcats for the 26-21 score with 6:53 to play in the first frame. Norwich settled down and converted the defensive rebounds into a 9-0 run for the 35-21 lead. The Wildcats added a jumper and hit three of the four free throws to shave down the deficit to 13 before the break with the Cadets leading 39-26.
Norwich (12-4, 3-3 GNAC) maintained its lead well into the second half until the Wildcats found their second wind as Pederzani nailed a three-pointer to spark a 13-5 run to trail by three for the 55-52 score with 8:26 remaining in the game. The Cadets extended the lead with Curry hitting both free throws followed by a long bomb from beyond the arc to make it a 10 point game, 62-52, at the 6:18 mark. .
Johnson & Wales kept pushing its way back into the game for a final rally as Kristen Habbel made the shot from the left side as the Wildcats trailed by just one point with 1:08 remaining on the board. Johnson & Wales utilized a full court press only to find themselves in foul trouble as the Cadets put the game out of reach on a layup from
Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine), before closing out the game on a free throw from
Shyann Josler (Thetford, Vt.) for the 69-65 victory.
LeBlanc would finish the day with 17 points and nine rebounds, while
Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.) added nine points and two rebounds with five assists.
Norwich will return to the court on Monday, Jan. 26 when the Cadets make up their game against Colby-Sawyer, which was postponed from Dec. 09. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
