NORTHFIELD, Vt. – A scoreless stretch lasting three and a half minutes in the middle of the third quarter was the major difference as the Norwich University women's basketball team fell to Bates College in non-conference action in Wednesday's matinee in Andrews Hall.

Norwich (3-8) and Bates (7-5) were locked in a defensive battle throughout the entire first half with both teams forcing tough shots and preventing the other side from any sustained run of success. Each team failed to shoot above 25 percent from the field in the opening stanza with Norwich hitting on 6-of-24 (25%) shots while Bates converted on just 7-of-34 of its attempts (20.6%).

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 5-0 lead following a jumper from Grace Hoehl. It took over five minutes, but junior guard Riley Bennett (Hopkinton, N.H.) finally got the Cadets on the scoreboard with a jumper at the 4:40 mark of the first quarter.

After junior guard Emily Schromm (North Attleboro, Mass.) made a layup to make it 5-4, the teams traded points through the end of the period with Bates holding onto a slim 11-9 lead.

A pair of three-pointers from Mia Roy gave the visitors an 18-11 lead at the 6:43 mark of the second quarter.

Norwich spent the remainder of the half chipping away at the deficit and with just under one minute to play had the lead down to just three points as senior forward KristieAnn DeSilvio's (Chelmsford, Mass.) layup following a deft cut through the lane made it 21-18.

Bates' Brianna Gadaleta made a shot with 40 seconds remaining to send the visitors into the locker room with a 23-18 halftime lead.

Roy and Bennett were the respective leaders for each team with Roy netting 13 first-half points for Bates while Bennett countered with 9 for the Cadets.

Norwich's junior forward Kailynne Frederick (Adams, Mass.) sunk a layup at the 8:13 mark of the third quarter to trim the lead to 23-20. However, Norwich struggled to stop the Bobcats' offense over the next three and a half minutes and turned the ball over three times during that stretch allowing the visitors to build a 33-20 lead.

That lead grew to as many as 22 late in the fourth quarter before Norwich found some offensive rhythm in the final few minutes.

Turnovers were a needle in the side of the Cadets as their 22 turnovers led to 21 points for the Bobcats. That paired with 20 bench points for Bates compared to just four for the hosts made their comeback effort especially challenging.

Norwich welcomed back senior forward Katie Dixon (Revere, Mass.) from injury. In her first appearance of the season, she contributed a rebound and an assist in limited minutes.

Bennett paced the Cadet offense with 15 points, while Frederick chipped in with 10. DeSilvio had eight rebounds in support of the starters. Junior forward Caileigh Travers (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) led the team in rebounding collecting 13 caroms to go with her four points off the bench.

Norwich will kick off Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play this Saturday when it travels to Maine to take on Saint Joseph's at 1 p.m.