WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
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Women's Basketball: Norwich Cruises Past Simmons, 74-48; Advances To GNAC Semifinals
NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Laurel McWilliams scored a team-high 13 points, and Tara Stevenson netted 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help lead the Norwich University women's basketball team past Simmons, 74-48, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday evening at Andrews Hall.
Ally Daniels added nine points and a game-high five assists for the Cadets, who have won five straight games and improve to 18-6 on the season. Kayleigh Shappy, Natalie Marchese and Marie Girard each pumped in seven points for Norwich, which once again got balanced scoring. All 12 Cadets who dressed for tonight's game played, and all but two of them scored.
Norwich began the game by missing its first six shots, and Simmons jumped on top 4-0 at the 15:35 mark. The Cadets made their next five field goals to move in front, 12-6, at the 12:39 mark. A three-point play by Stephanie Fox drew the Sharks to within three points at 12-9 moments later, but that was as close as Simmons would get. Marchese scored five quick points to ignite an 11-2 Norwich spurt that gave the Cadets a 23-11 lead with 7:48 to play before halftime. Simmons cut its deficit down to eight points at 25-17 with 4:55 to play in the opening frame, but a three-pointer by Daniels with six seconds left capped a 12-4 Norwich run to close the stanza and gave the Cadets a 37-21 lead at the intermission.
Daniels paced the Cadets in the first half with nine points. Stevenson chipped in seven points off the bench. Fox led the Sharks in the opening frame with seven points. After starting out so cold from the floor, Norwich ended the half shooting 50.0 percent (14-of-28).
Simmons got to within 14 points three times early in the second half. The Sharks trailed 45-31 at the 15:55 mark, but a 14-2 run by Norwich gave the Cadets a commanding 59-33 advantage with 11:07 to play. NU cruised from there, as the Cadets never let Simmons get any closer than 20 points the rest of the way.
Simmons (17-9) was led by Fox, who scored a game-high 14 points and pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Sarah Clayton chipped in 13 points for the Sharks, and Aubree Giarrosso added seven.
Norwich shot 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field for the game, while Simmons made just 33.3 percent (18-of-54) of its shots. The Cadets connected on seven three-pointers in the contest, while the Sharks made only two triples. Norwich outrebounded Simmons, 36-32. NU converted 20 Simmons turnovers into 23 points, and the Cadets bench outscored the Sharks reserves 43-6.
With the victory, third-seeded Norwich advances to the GNAC Tournament semifinals, where the Cadets will meet No. 2 seed Emerson on Friday, Feb. 27. Emerson defeated Suffolk, 74-45, this evening in its quarterfinal contest. Tip-off for Friday's semifinal is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Lions downed the Cadets, 67-47, during the regular season meeting between the two schools.
