Warburton Hits Buzzer-Beater to Seal 61-59 Win against Norwich
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Norwich (8-2, 0-1 GNAC) | 33 | 26 | 59 |
|
Anna Maria (5-8, 1-0 GNAC) | 21 | 40 | 61 |
PAXTON, Mass.—Anna Maria College women's basketball senior Trafficia Warburton(Worcester, Mass.) scored a basket as time expired to lead the AMCATS to a 61-59 win against the Cadets of Norwich University in Tuesday evening's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game.
With the win, the AMCATS improve to 5-8 overall and 1-0 in GNAC play, while the loss drops the Cadets to 8-2 overall and 0-1 in league action.
Warburton recorded her league-leading eighth double-double, netting 20 points and recording 11 rebounds in the win. Classmate Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) tallied 16 points, including the game-tying three-pointer with five seconds left on the clock.
The Cadets were paced by sophomore Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) with 20 points and 10 rebounds. She shot 5-for-10 from the floor and 10-for-13 from the free-throw line to lead Norwich. Senior Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) scored 19 points and became the all-time leading scorer in GNAC history, recording her 1,908th point on her final free-throw shot, taken with 13 seconds left on the clock.
Following Curry's final free-throw, which gave the Cadets a 59-56 lead, Pryor responded with a quick three-pointer to tie the score at 59-59. The Cadets inbounded the ball, and Anna Maria's Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) stole the ball before half court and streaked towards the basket. Her layup was off-target, but Warburton's put-back was counted, and the AMCATS took the 61-59 lead.
Norwich had led for most of the game and held a 15-point advantage late in the first half. The AMCATS slowly fought their way back, quietly cutting the Cadets' lead to seven on a three-pointer by Russo at the 11:44 mark, and cutting it to four on the next possession following a Pryor three-pointer.
After 45 seconds of scoreless basketball, Warburton made it a two-point game with an offensive rebounds and put back. The Cadets hit a pair of free-throws to take a four-point lead at 44-40, but Anna Maria cut it to one with another three-point basket by Russo.
With 7:41 on the clock, the AMCATS were able to tie the score at 46-46 following a three-point basket by Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.). The Cadets had a run and were able to open a six-point window in the next four minutes, but the AMCATS came roaring back in the final two minutes to outscore Norwich 13-5 in the final 3:14 of clock time.
The AMCATS totaled a 38.9 percent effort (21-54) from the floor, but hit 10-of-20 from three-point range, including six second-half three-pointers. Norwich, who shot 44.4 percent in the first half (12-27), was held to just 3-for-19 (15.8 percent) in the second half to total a complete-game percentage of 32.6.
Anna Maria outscored the Cadets in points in the paint (18-14), points off turnovers (21-20), and bench points (12-6), but Norwich led in second-chance points (13-8) and fast-break points (2-0).
The AMCATS are back in action on Monday, January 12 in a 6:00 p.m. home non-conference game against Pine Manor.
