NORTHFIELD, Vt. – After taking the lead in the first quarter, Regis College struggled offensively and was forced to play from behind, as Norwich University hung on for a 46-38 victory Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Andrew Gym.
Mackenzie Emery (Standish, Maine) came off the bench and led the Pride in scoring with 10 points, plus she pulled down eight rebounds, while fellow first-year player Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) nearly notched another double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. However, the Pride made only 12 field goals the entire afternoon as they could not solve Norwich's zone defense.
The Pride did make three three-pointers in the first quarter to take an 11-6 lead before a jumper by Norwich's Riley Bennett closed the advantage to three heading into the second quarter. Bennett started the second period with a three-pointer as the Cadets put together an 11-1 run to open a 17-12 lead, but Regis fought back, going on a 7-2 scoring stretch capped by a three-pointer from Marissa Prall (Hopkinton, Mass.) to tie the game at 19-19.
Julia Vigorito made a layup in the final seconds of the first half to give the Cadets a 21-19 halftime advantage. The two teams traded points through most of the third quarter before Norwich rattled off six straight points, featuring a three-pointer from Bennett, to open a 33-27 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Norwich (8-13, 4-4 GNAC) extended the lead to its largest of the game at 41-29 thanks to an 8-2 scoring run to start the fourth quarter. Regis put together a rally with a three-pointer from Gonzalez and four straight points from Emery to close to within five at 41-36 with 1:45 left in regulation, but Norwich put the game away by going 5-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch.
The starters scored all 46 points for the Cadets, led by Bennett with 15 points, Vigorito with 11 points, and KristieAnn DeSilvio with 10 points. As a team, Norwich shot 31.4 percent (16-of-51) from the field and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free throw line.
The Pride dominated the rebounding battle, 58-39, as five different Regis players corralled at least eight boards apiece. Regis scored 19 second chance points off 27 offensive rebounds, but the Pride could gain only five points off 15 Cadet turnovers, while Norwich scored just eight points off 17 Regis turnovers.
Regis (12-10, 6-2 GNAC) hosts Suffolk University in a key GNAC contest Wednesday, Feb. 12, starting at 8 p.m. The Pride are now tied for third in the conference standings, a half-game behind the Rams and a game behind league leading Saint Joseph's College.