GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico - The Norwich University women's basketball team opened up the 2023 DIII Puerto Rico Clasico with a narrow victory, shutting down a late Hawks rally en route to a 50-47 victory over Hilbert College at the Coliseo Mario Morales on Wednesday morning in a non-conference tilt.

Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the charge, posting a game-high 18 points to go with six boards, four helpers, and three steals.  Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) flirted with a double-double on nine points and 11 caroms, while Kiley O'Brien (Kingston, Mass.) turned away three shots while adding nine points and six rebounds.

The Cadets had the early edge in a defensive battle, taking a 4-0 lead in the opening four minutes on McGinn and O'Brien baskets.  The Hawks eventually claimed their first lead of the contest, capturing a five-point advantage in the closing moments of the frame, but Norwich whittled the lead down, eventually knotting the contest at 13-all on their opening possession of the second quarter from a Silas Bernier (Jaffrey, N.H.) jumper.

The second quarter played out much of the same way, as Hilbert regained the lead by five, but four-straight points from O'Brien and a McGinn layup before the buzzer gave the Cadets a one-point lead at the half.  Norwich kept the momentum alive in the third, breaking open a 32-all tie on a 9-0 spurt to take a quarter-high nine-point lead.

Brewster pushed the Cadets ahead by double-digits a little over a minute in, and Norwich appeared primed to coast to victory with an eight-point advantage with 23 seconds left.  Hilbert made things interesting, capitalizing on a late-game run to trim Norwich's lead down to three with a shot to tie, but the Cadets' stalwart defense prevented the Hawks from getting a final shot off.

Norwich took advantage of 18 Hilbert turnovers, scoring 16 points off the Hawks' miscues.  The Cadets also owned advantages in fast break points (11-2) and points in the paint (18-16).

The Cadets will close out the first semester of play with one more game in Puerto Rico tomorrow, Dec. 21, returning to Guaynabo to take on Case Western Reserve University for the first time in program history.  Tip-off is scheduled for 11:00 AM EST / 12:00 PM AST at Coliseo Mario Morales.