Box Score NEW LONDON, N.H. – December 10, 2013 – Norwich junior Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) scored the game-winning basket with four seconds left to lift the Cadets to a 56-53 victory at Colby-Sawyer College on Tuesday evening.

BOX SCORE

Norwich improves to 5-4 and will return to action after the New Year on January 4 at Castleton with a 1:00 p.m. tip. Colby-Sawyer drops to 2-5 and resumes North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. home tilt with Johnson.

Colby-Sawyer held a 53-52 lead after a Kelsey Bragdon (Wells, Maine) lay-in with 37 seconds left in the game before a Katrina Laidlaw (Dunblane, Scotland) free throw knotted the game at 53-53 with 13 to play. A Colby-Sawyer turnover gave the Cadets the ball with time winding down. Aliah Curry drove down the lane and made a basket while being fouled. She hit the free throw and the Norwich defense stopped one last effort by the Chargers to win 56-53.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first half, but Colby-Sawyer held 16-6 edge after a pair of free throws by Katie McCarthy (Mansfield, Mass.) with 8:26 to play. Norwich did not make a field goal until Laidlaw hit a layup with eight minutes left. The bucket by Laidlaw gave Norwich momentum that aided a 19-5 run to end the frame. Norwich benefited on 11 of 12 free throws to take a 27-23 lead into the half.

The second half featured four lead changes and a pair of ties as the cold shooting continued. Each team kept the game close with solid free throw shooting. The Chargers had the largest advantage of the second stanza at 36-29 when Bragdon completed a three-point play. The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes before Norwich went on a 9-0 run capped by a Lacey Stever (Fairlee, Vt.) layup to take a 52-49 lead.

Curry led all players with 16 points. Freshman Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) recorded a double-double of 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for the Cadets.

Junior Kelsey Cahill (Cumberland, R.I.) led the Chargers with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. She added a career-high six blocks. Kelsey Bragdon also recorded a double-double. She scored 11 points and pulled down 11 boards. Senior Ashley Fruzzetti (Carver, Mass.) hit four three-pointers and finished with 14 points. 

Each team went 18-22 from the free throw line. Norwich finished with 30% shooting, while the Chargers connected on 25% of their attempts.