WESTON, Mass. - The Norwich University women's basketball team closed the month of January with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) thriller, falling just short in an 82-77 setback to Regis College on Saturday afternoon at Higgins Court.

Maggi Ellsworth (West Topsham, Vt.) turned in another standout performance, matching her career-high with 26 points on 50.0% shooting while knocking down five three-pointers and grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds.  She led a quartet of Cadets in double figures, joined by Cassidy Kittredge (Waterford, Vt.) with 16 points and Kiley O'Brien (Kingston, Mass.) with 14.  Gracie Laster (Arlington, Va.) added 10 points off the bench, all in the first half.

The Cadets came out firing, opening the contest on a 6-0 run with layups from Kittredge, Jade Garceau (Fairfield, Vt.), and O'Brien while holding Regis scoreless for over three minutes.  After the Pride broke through on a Madi Zancan layup, Ellsworth responded with a triple to give Norwich its largest lead of the game at 9-2.  Regis responded to pull within one and eventually took its first lead with 2:52 remaining, carrying a one-point edge into the second quarter.

Ellsworth briefly put Norwich back in front with a putback to start the second frame, but Regis responded with a 7-0 burst to build a 27-20 lead midway through the quarter.  The Cadets punched back with a 16-4 run powered by threes from Ellsworth and Laster, regaining a 36-31 advantage before the Pride closed the half with a 7-2 surge to once again lead by one at the break.

Regis never relinquished the lead during the third quarter, maintaining control while building a six-point margin two minutes into the stanza.  Kittredge paced the Cadets with seven points in the frame, and Ellsworth added a late layup to keep the deficit at three, 58-55, entering the fourth.

The Pride controlled the early stretch of the fourth quarter, but Norwich rallied behind Ellsworth and Kittredge.  A corner three from Ellsworth off a feed from Lily Briggs (Fair Haven, Vt.) and a Kittredge layup just seconds later tied the game at 74-74 with under three minutes remaining.  Still deadlocked with just over a minute to play, Zancan delivered consecutive layups to give Regis a four-point cushion.

Ellsworth answered once more, drilling a wing three on a Kittredge assist to pull the Cadets within one, but four clutch free throws by Zancan in the final seconds and a final defensive stand helped the Pride seal the win.

Despite the loss, Norwich dominated the glass with a 54-36 rebounding margin and outscored Regis, 19-8, in second-chance points.  The Cadets shot 38.7% from the field and 36.0% from three-point range while finishing 10-11 at the free-throw line.

Zancan powered the Pride with a 32-point, 20-rebound performance to lead a trio of Regis players in double figures.

The Cadets enter the final month of the regular season in the thick of the playoff hunt, returning home on Tuesday, Feb. 3, to host Colby-Sawyer College at 5:00 p.m. before hitting the road for back-to-back games at Mitchell College and New England College on Feb. 7 and Feb. 11.