SAINTS STAY PERFECT IN GNAC WITH 68-55 WIN AT NORWICH

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Emmanuel Saints continued their conference unbeaten streak on Wednesday night, when they rolled to a 68-55 win over Norwich University.  The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory boosted Emmanuel to 15-5 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in the league.  The host Cadets dropped to 8-14 overall and 2-7 in GNAC play with the loss at Andrews Hall.

The Saints had two double-figure performances, as Fiona O'Dwyer (Stamford, Conn.) netted a team-best 19 points and Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) added 15 points on 7-14 shooting from the floor and a 1-1 finish from the foul-line. Both O'Dwyer and Bujnowski posted eight rebounds apiece.  Freshman point guard Devin Rauh (Collegeville, Pa.) provided a spark for the Saints, scoring 6 points off the bench, as she knocked down 3 of her 4 attempts from the floor.

Norwich sophomore Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.), the nation's 4^th leading scorer, totaled 33 points, including 20 points from the free-throw line.  Curry shot 5-15 from the floor, including 3-8 shooting from three-point range, and added 20-24 shooting from the line.  Junior Kristin Brown (Wiliamstown, Vt.) was the team's second-highest scorer with five points, in addition to a game-high 10 rebounds.  Junior Kristine Brammer (Littleton, N.H.) and sophomore Katrina Laidlaw (Dunblane, Scotland) both chipped in with four points, while Brammer added seven rebounds.

After trailing by four after the first two possessions of the game, the Cadets used three-point baskets by Curry and Brown and a layup by Brammer to take an 11-6 lead at the 16:05 mark.  Norwich would extend the lead their early lead to as many as five with just under 15 minutes to play.

At the 4:18 mark of the first half, Emmanuel's Bujnowski connected on a jumper to knot the score at 22-22.  The Saints would take control from that moment on, as they opened a six-point gap with 47 seconds to play and carried a four-point advantage at 32-28 into halftime.

The Saints set the pace early in the second half, opening with a 20-3 run in the first seven minutes of the half.  Emmanuel's full-court press proved to be a game-changer in the second stanza, as the Saints forced 17 Norwich turnovers and scored 13 of their second-half points off of Cadets' turnovers.

Norwich posted a 27.7 shooting percentage from the floor and a 22.2 shooting percentage from three-point range.  The Saints shot 37.8% from the field, including a 30.8 percent shooting effort from behind the three-point arc.  Norwich held a 25-8 point advantage at the foul line.  Emmanuel forced 31 Norwcih turnovers on the night.

The Cadets return to action on Saturday when they travel to Anna Maria College for a 3:00 p.m. GNAC matchup.   The Saints will travel to Standish, Maine on Saturday, when they take on the Monks of Saint Joseph's College in a 1:00 PM start.

- Release courtesy of Norwich University Sports Information