NORTHFIELD, Vt. - After falling behind in the opening quarter, the Norwich University women's basketball team held strong against the visiting Saint Joseph's College Monks in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clash, dropping a 71-53 tilt in Andrews Hall on Wednesday afternoon.

Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) paced Norwich offensively, tallying 14 points in the loss.  Silas Bernier (Jaffrey, N.H.) and Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) trailed with eight points apiece, with McGinn hauling down a team-best six boards.

After a string of empty possessions from both teams to tip off the affair, the Monks got on the board in dominant fashion, embarking on a 10-0 run in the opening four minutes before a trey from Brewster finally got the Cadets on track.  A pair of freebies from Erika Thomas (Burlington, N.C.) minutes later put Norwich back within six, before the Monks ended the first stanza on a 9-4 run to enjoy an 11-point lead.

Norwich played nearly even for the remaining three quarters, trailing by deficits of 15-14, 16-12, and 17-15 in each respective quarter.  Saint Joseph's succeeded at keeping the Cadets at bay, however, even after Norwich whittled the lead back down to single-digits on two occasions in the second frame.

The Cadets again threatened to mount a comeback on a Brewster jumper out of halftime, cutting the Monks' lead to 10, but Saint Joseph's recovered, gradually building a lead that grew to as large as 22 en route to an 18-point victory.

Hannah Talon and Jayne Howe led the Monks in scoring with 15 apiece, while Elisabeth Stapelfeld posted 12 points.

Norwich will close out their three-game homestand in the friendly confines of Andrews Hall on Saturday, Jan. 14, hosting GNAC cross-divisional foe Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in a 1:00 p.m. bout.