Middlebury mounted a second-half comeback attempt in the final minutes against Norwich on Tuesday evening, but the Cadets hung on for a 55-49 victory inside Pepin Gymnasium. Middlebury (4-2) returns to action when it hosts Alfred State on Friday at 6:00 p.m., while Norwich takes on MCLA at the same time.

Norwich jumped out of the gate early, scoring 15 of the game's first 20 points for a 15-5 edge with 14:40 left in the opening half. Over the next 4:14 of play, Middlebury clawed back to a six-point deficit at 17-11 on a put-back from Holly Lanchantin. Norwich rattled off the next seven points, grabbing its largest lead of the opening at 13 (24-11) with 5:46 remaining capped off by a pair of free throws from Shyann Josler.

The Panthers cut the Norwich lead back to eight at 24-16 via a three-pointer from Sarah Kaufman with an assist from Alexis Coolidge with 5:08 showing on the clock. The Cadets scored the final four points of the half, taking a 28-16 edge to the break as both teams struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the opening half. Norwich finished the opening half just 27.3% (9-33) from the field, while the Panthers were limited to 23.3% (7-30).     

In the second half, Norwich maintained its double-digit lead and secured its largest lead of the evening of 17 (46-29) on a three-pointer from Kelsey Lotti with 11:27 left. The Panthers cut the deficit to 11 with a 6-0 run over a span of 1:42 on a three from Kaufman, a free throw from Sabrina Weeks and a jumper in the paint from Coolidge.

The Cadets pushed their lead back to 16 at 51-35 on a layup from Arianna Harrison and a shot beyond the arc by Aliah Curry at the 8:48 mark. Over the ensuing 6:55 of play, Middlebury reeled off an 11-0 run, cutting the Norwich lead to just five (51-46) with 1:08 left on a free throw by Weeks. However, the Cadets knocked down clutch free throws and held on for the six-point win.

Kaufman led all scorers with 16 points, while adding six rebounds. Weeks added 10 points and eight rebounds along with a game-best four blocked shots, while Elizabeth Knox nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine boards. Coolidge chipped in with nine points, a game-high five assists and four rebounds.

Curry, the nation's second-leading scorer at 26.8 ppg entering Tuesday's action, was held to 14 points on 4-16 shooting. Lotti chipped in with 12 points, while Heather LeBlanc recorded a double-double of 11 points along with a game-high 10 rebounds for the Cadets.

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