Video Highlights by Tanner Acebo, NU Sports Information

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's basketball team marched past Plymouth State University, 68-60, in a non-conference contest on Tuesday night.

Sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) collected her fifth double-double on the year after posting a team-high 21 points and 16 rebounds, while senior guard Tory Kethro (Barnstable, Mass.) posted a career-high 10 points on the night. Senior guard Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, while teammate Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) posted 11 points with a pair of steals during the win.

The Cadets (16-4, 4-3 GNAC) jumped ahead as Kethro scored six of the eight points for the lead in the first six minutes of the opening tip-off. Plymouth State would respond quickly on a layup, two free throws, and a jumper to trail by two, 8-6, in fewer than two minutes.  Trailing by one point, 13-12, at the 10 minute mark, Norwich would take advantage of the paint as LeBlanc connected with Arianna Harrison (Vernon, Vt.) for the easy layup to start the 9-0 run for the 21-13 score. The Panthers rallied on a 7-3 spurt before the Cadets closed out the stanza with a nine point command to lead 38-26 at the break.

The Cadets maintained the lead throughout the second half, despite the early 8-0 run by the Panthers that shrunk the lead down to six for the 47-41 score at the 12:06 mark.  Norwich continued to battle its way through the perimeter with LeBlanc posting 11 points in the half. With 1:38 remaining in the contest and Norwich leading 64-54, the Panthers managed to add eight more points in the closing minutes before a layup from Harrison and a pair of free throws by Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.) made the final score 68-60.

Plymouth State (6-13, 0-9 LEC) were led by sophomore guard Ace Lawerence (Middletown, Conn.) with a team-high 18 points, while senior forward Tiffany Lewis (Hillsboro, N.H.) contributed 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds on the night.

The Cadets controlled every factor of the game, outrebounding the Panthers 44-33 and scoring 34 points in the paint to Plymouth State's 16. Norwich would shoot 40.7 percent (24-59) from the field to the Panthers' 38.7 percent (24-62). The Panthers did however, score 21 points off of Norwich's 12 turnovers with four points on fast breaks and had 22 points scored from the bench.

Norwich returns to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, Feb. 7 when they host Saint Joseph's (Maine) for a 3 p.m. game.