NO. 8 NORWICH STUNS TOP-SEEDED SAINTS IN GNAC QUARTERFINAL

BOSTON, Mass. – The 8th-seeded Norwich University Cadets pulled off a stunning 84-78 overtime upset against the top-seeded Emmanuel College Saints in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball tournament on Tuesday night in the Jean Yawkey Center.  In a game featuring 17 lead changes and 13 ties, the Cadets pulled out the GNAC quarterfinal victory and will now advance to the tournament semifinals on Thursday night.

For the first time in eight years, the Emmanuel Women's Basketball Team (19-7) was defeated in GNAC Tournament play.  The Saints had won seven-straight conference championships (2007-2013) and held a streak of 64-consecutive victories over GNAC opponents, dating back to the 2010 season.

The 8th-seeded Cadets (14-12) got a game-high 33 points from Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) and 20 from Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) en route to the win.

Norwich was in it from the tip and jumped out to an early 9-4 lead after three-pointers on the their first three possessions, including a pair from Lotti and another from Curry.  The visitors pushed the spread to 15-6, with Lotti and Curry accounting for all of the Norwich points, forcing an Emmanuel timeout at the fifteen-minute mark.

Out of the timeout, the Saints put together an 8-0 run, which spanned the next four minutes and Emmanuel trailed by just one at 15-14.  Freshman forward Katrina Laidlaw (Dunblane, Scotland) would end the drought for the Cadets on a jumper from the right side with just under 11:00 to go in the half.

Norwich remained packed in its half-court zone defense, forcing the Saints to shoot from the outside, but Emmanuel would hit just 1 of 11 from long-range in the first half.  Sophomore guard Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) penetrated, finding a seam in the zone and connecting on an and-one, to give the Saints the lead at 19-17.

Approaching the five-minute mark, Higgins scored again in the paint for the Saints, but Emmanuel fouls sent Curry to the line and the junior guard knocked down four freebies in the early-going to keep things close at 23-21.

Emmanuel forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) scored on consecutive possessions and Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Me.) sunk a bucket in the post at the opposite end to set the score at 27-24.  Norwich senior Kristen Brown (Williamstown, Vt.) netted a jumper to cut the visitors' deficit to one point with less than two minutes to play in the half.

Laidlaw would score from the right block for the Cadets and Higgins stuck a triple in the final seconds for the Saints to give EC a slim 30-28 edge at the half.  The lead switched hands six times in the opening twenty minutes.

Higgins led all scorers at the break with 14 points off of 6-11 shooting for Emmanuel.  Curry led the Cadets with 11 first-half points, 6 boards and 3 assists.

Second-half action began with another old-fashioned three-point play by Higgins, before Lotti dialed in from downtown for the Cadets, knotting the contest at 35-all.  Norwich scored twice quickly to take a 39-35 lead, as the Saints continued to struggle with their outside shooting.

An Emmanuel hoop down low from Bujnowski and four free throws by Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Me.) were part of another 8-0 Saints' run and EC took a 43-39 lead, approaching the fifteen-minute mark.

Norwich then put together an 11-6 run to surge back out in front by one at 50-49.  With both teams in the bonus and over nine minutes to play, it became apparent that the contest would be won on the free throw line, as Curry poured in two more freebies and Norwich led by four, 55-51.

Emmanuel's Jasmine Burwell (Brentwood, N.Y.) and Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) each sunk a pair from the stripe to tie it up again, 55-all, with 8:07 on the clock.  The Saints' free throws were part of the third 8-0 EC run of the game, forcing a Norwich timeout with the Cadets trailing 59-55 and 6:24 remaining.

Sophomore forward Donovan Driscoll (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored down low and Curry nailed a triple for the Cadets, giving Norwich a 60-59 edge with four minutes to go.

With the game knotted in its fifteenth tie of the night at 61-all and three minutes left, Higgins picked up her fourth personal foul and Curry knocked down one of two.  Shaniya Rentie (Owings Mills, Md.) then hit a free throw for Emmanuel to tie the game again at 62-all.

Brown would hit from long range on Norwich's next possession, forcing an Emmanuel timeout with 1:20 left to play and the Saints trailing by three, 65-62.  A foul by the Saints put Curry on the line again and the junior guard hit both to take a 67-62 lead with 51.8 second left.

The hosts were successful on their next possession, as Negri scored on a put-back with 40.3 to go.  The Saints were then forced to foul and Brown hit both free throws to set the score at 69-64.  Norwich then fouled Negri at the opposite end and she hit both of her attempts from the stripe and EC signaled for a timeout down three, 69-66, with 28 seconds to play.

Emmanuel's intense pressure defense would not allow Norwich to inbound the ball on the baseline, forcing the Cadets to call a timeout.  Out of the timeout, the Saints then forced a five-second call and a turnover by Norwich.  Trailing by three, Higgins found freshman guard Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) open in the corner and the rookie buried the trifecta with 0:21 on the clock to tie the game at 69-all.  Norwich could not put anything together on its final possession and the quarterfinal contest was sent into overtime.

The Saints opened overtime with a turnover and Norwich went out in front once again off of points from the line.  The game would see three more ties in the OT period, but Curry nailed a three-ball with 2:41 on the clock to put Norwich out in front, 78-74, and the Cadets would never relinquish the lead.

The Saints forced Norwich turnovers on consecutive possessions, but could not manufacture points at the other end.  Emmanuel got 15 shots off in overtime, compared to just three by Norwich, but the Saints were out-scored, 15-9 in the extra frame.

Hoops from the line by Bujnowski cut the Saints' deficit to two (78-76) with 1:05 left, but Emmanuel would come no closer.  Norwich sunk six free throws in the final minute to pull off the 84-78 shocker.

The 84 Norwich points were the most given up this season by the Saints.  Curry's 33 came off of 6-15 shooting from the floor, 3-7 from three-point range and an incredible 18-19 stint at the line.  Lotti finished with 20 points, including four threes.  Curry and Erin Clark (Newbury, Vt.) hauled in 9 board apiece, while Brown chipped in with 9 points in the win for Norwich.

Emmanuel shot 29-94 (30.9%) from the floor, nearly doubling the team field goal attempts taken by the Cadets (22-53). However, the Saints sent Norwich to the line 41 times and the visitors were clutch all night, sinking 32 of their 41 attempts (78%).  Emmanuel out-rebounded Norwich, 57-47 and the Saints forced 28 turnovers by the Cadets, but Emmanuel could never recover from its dismal outside shooting (2-28) at 7.1% on the night.

Higgins finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds to lead Emmanuel.  Bujnowski added a double-double effort of 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Negri also recorded a double-double with her 12 points and 11 boards.  Mikulanecz chipped in with 10 points, 8 rebounds and a game-high 5 assists.

Norwich will now advance to take on the 5th-seeded Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University in the GNAC semifinal round this Thursday night.  JWU upset No. 4 Suffolk University, 59-45, in other quarterfinal action.

Emmanuel will wait to hear about a possible Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament bid.