Video Highlights by Tanner Acebo, NU Sports Information

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's basketball team utilized a strong second half to come back from behind for the 78-71 victory over Lyndon State College on Tuesday night.

With the win, Norwich improves to 14-4 on the year, while the loss drops Lyndon State to 3-13 overall.

Sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) matched her career-high 24 points, going 10-of-14, as she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds on the night. Senior guard Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) added 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists, while teammate Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) contributed nine points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Cadets.

Lyndon State jumped out to a 5-3 lead before a three-pointer from Curry sparked a 12-4 run for Cadets, leading 18-9 at the 9:56 mark. The Hornets struck responded quickly, utilizing an 11-6 run in a span of four minutes to knot the game at 24 points. The game would tie once more before freshman center Mikayla Hodge went up for the layup to give the Hornets their second lead of the half before adding six additional points to the Cadets' three as both teams headed into the locker with the score in favor of Lyndon State, 36-31.

The Hornets looked to keep the momentum going, adding four points to start the stanza, before Norwich marched its way back into the game, scoring seven unanswered points to tie it at 40 with 16:52 to play. Lyndon State would re-take the lead to a four point margin, only to watch the Cadets take it all back with another 6-0 run for the 46-46 score. A pair of Allison Brown jumpers allowed the Hornets to get ahead for their fourth and final lead of the night before LeBlanc feed the ball to Shyann Josler (Thetford, Vt.), who then nailed the three-pointer for the Cadet's third lead of the game, 51-50, with 9:40 on the board.

Norwich would rely heavily on LeBlanc, as she scored 13 points in a span of eight minutes to give the Cadets the 72-63 lead with 1:08 remaining on the clock. Lyndon State would muster a late rally in the final minute with Hodge putting up four of the eight points, but it was too late as time expired and the Cadets added six more of their own to hold on for the 78-71 victory. 

Hodge collected a double-double on 18 points and 17 rebounds along with four blocks for the Hornets. Senior guard Emily Gray and junior forward Aimee Thompson would score 16 points each.

Norwich struggled in the first half, hitting just 34.2 percent from the floor in the first half before turning it around in the second half nailing 50 percent from the field to end the night with 41.2 percent overall. The Hornets had a strong start in the first half, shooting 40.5 percent from the field before faltering the rest of the way to end the night with a 38.6 percent from the floor. Lyndon State would outrebound Norwich, 50-38, however the Cadets managed to score 25 points off of Lyndon's 18 turnovers.

The Cadets will travel to New Haven, Conn. for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup against Albertus Magnus College for the 1:00 p.m. tip-off.