NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University women's basketball team earned a hard-fought, pivotal Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory tonight, extinguishing a Blazers run en route to a 68-57 win over Elms College on Tuesday night in Andrews Hall.

Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) paced a triplet of double-digit scorers, shooting 50.0% from the floor and knocking down four treys en route to a 21-point showcase.  Sage MacAuley (Barre, Vt.) also maintained a 50.0% clip, tallying 17 points with eight caroms.  Maren McGinn (Georgia, Vt.) was historic on the glass, posting 12 points while hauling down a career-high 20 rebounds.

The first quarter was entertaining, as both teams combined for 42 points in the opening 10 minutes.  The Cadets kick-started things on a Brewster layup off the tip, as both teams traded baskets for the ensuing stretch.  Elms grabbed the early momentum, building a six-point edge and holding on to the lead until the 29-second mark when Brewster pushed Norwich back ahead on a trey, complemented by a bucket in the waning seconds from Jessica Zimmerman (Turner, Maine).

Offenses cooled in the second frame, as the Cadets held the Blazers scoreless for over six minutes while extending their lead to as large as 13, 35-22, on a basket from McGinn.  Elms whittled the lead down to single digits, but MacAuley pushed it back to 10 on a freebie in the closing moments.

The Blazers erupted out of intermission, embarking on a 15-4 run to recapture the lead, but the Cadets recovered after Elms took a three-point lead, erasing a 47-44 deficit on a masterful 8-0 spurt to close the quarter, spurred by a momentum-shifting three-pointer from Brewster.

Elms continued to threaten Norwich's lead but could never get over the hump despite knotting the contest up on a pair of occasions.  The Cadets routed the Blazers in the final seven minutes, breaking open a 54-all game on a 14-3 run, as jumpers from MacAuley and Siobhan O'Donnell (Glendale, N.Y.), alongside clutch long-range bombs from Zimmerman and Brewster, iced the game.

Norwich held leads in numerous areas, including in second-chance points (15-7), bench points (13-5), and points in the paint (30-24).  The Cadets held a significant advantage on the boards, outrebounding Elms, 53-38.

The Cadets maintained a 40.3% shooting clip for the game.  Their defensive prowess was on full display, as the hosts contained the Blazers to just 5.56% from the floor in the second quarter and 16.67% in the final 10 minutes.

Norwich will step out of conference play one last time this regular season, hosting Southern Maine Community College on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 3:00 p.m.  The Cadets then hit the road for a pair of critical GNAC showdowns, first at Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, Feb. 3, followed by New England College on Feb. 7.