NEWTON, Mass. – For the second-straight contest, four members of the Norwich University women's basketball team scored in double-digit figures as, on Saturday, the Cadets toppled Mount Ida College by a 63-49 score. 

Norwich moves to 9-1 all-time against Mount Ida while improving to 5-3 overall during the 2016-17 season. The Cadets also remain undefeated in two Great Northeast Athletic Conference games while Mount Ida (2-6, 0-1 GNAC) fell in its league-opening game. 

Senior Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.) scored 16 points for Norwich, making five three-point baskets while dishing out four assists. Senior Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) scored 12 points, equaling the points tallied by juniors Arianna Harrison (Vernon, Vt.) and Shyann Josler (Thetford Center, Vt.). 

Harrison also notched her first double-double of the season, leading the way with 13 rebounds and two blocks for the Cadets. Senior Leanne Winans (Hudson, N.H.) continued to clean the glass for Norwich, picking up eight rebounds – she boasts at least four rebounds in all eight games so far in 2016 and has hauled in at least seven across her last seven games. 

Norwich also attempted 32 three-point field goals on Saturday, the second-most in a game since the team's inception. The team record of 34 treys attempted was set on Jan. 16, 1998 against Coast Guard and Saturday's mark of 32 ties the second-place mark of 32 set against Bates on Feb. 14, 1997. 

The Cadets led from their opening possession as Josler poured home a triple only nine seconds into the game off a dish from LeBlanc. Winans would add a layup before Mercer would add the first of her five three-point baskets in the contest, creating an 8-0 lead for Norwich and forcing the first Mount Ida time out of the game. 

Norwich would extend its lead to 15-2 with 3:55 to go in the opening stanza as LeBlanc recorded back-to-back layups to create the sizeable advantage. A brief rally late in the first quarter by the Mustangs was extinguished following a three-pointer by Josler with 31 seconds to go, creating a 21-9 lead before a late trey from Jaime Moscato of Mount Ida. 

Mount Ida would put a brief scare into the Cadets near the midpoint of the second quarter as back-to-back treys from Jessica Cyr cut the large lead to only three points, 25-22, with 4:49 left in the first half. The Cadets would rally for eight-straight points, six courtesy of two Mercer shots from beyond the arc, and eventually capture a 33-24 lead at the break. 

At the end of three quarters, Mount Ida had managed to shrink its deficit to seven points, 45-38. Eight-straight points by Norwich to begin the fourth quarter would be all that was needed as the Cadets would build a game-high 17 point lead following a Winans layup with 41 seconds left on the scoreboard. 

Brittany Crosby would lead her team with 11 points while Moscato was the other double-digit scorer for Mount Ida with 10 to her credit. Angelique Martinez led members of both teams with 14 rebounds. 

Norwich wraps up the month of December with a home tilt against the Spartans from Castleton University at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13 in Andrews Hall.