Preview: No. 7 Anna Maria at No. 2 Norwich - GNAC Women's Basketball Quarterfinal

OVERVIEW

The seventh-seeded AMCATS of Anna Maria will travel to No. 2 Norwich for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Quarterfinals on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. LIVE STATS and VIDEO will be available.

NEW TERRITORY

Tuesday's game will mark the first conference tournament appearance for the AMCATS in over a decade. The team last qualified for a postseason appearance in the 2002-03 season. That year the team entered the tournament as the eighth seed with a 6-12 conference record and traveled to No. 1 University of New England, who took the 68-35 win against Anna Maria.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Anna Maria had their best GNAC conference record to-date this season, but Saturday's win 81-68 win against Albertus Magnus helped seal the No. 7 seed as the team finished with a 5-6 record in league play.

The Cadets lost just three GNAC contests this season to take the No. 2 seed. They are currently on an 11-game winning streak, and downed Lasell College 79-59 on Saturday in their final GNAC regular season contest.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The AMCATS and Cadets met just once this season, on January 6^th. Anna Maria escaped with a 61-59 win after trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half. It marks the lone win in the series between the two teams, as Norwich won four-straight against Anna Maria dating back to 2010. In league play, the Cadets hold a 3-1 edge against the AMCATS.

In this season's meeting, senior Trafficia Warburton (Worcester, Mass.) paced the AMCATS with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She also hit the game-winning basket as time expired. Classmate Katie Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) had one of her best games of the season against Norwich, as she scored 16 points and hit four three-pointers.

The Cadets were led by sophomore Heather LeBLanc with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Aliah Curry chipped in with 19 points, 12 of which were scored at the free-throw line.

SCOUTING THE AMCATS

The AMCATS (10-15, 5-6 GNAC) rely heavily on their defense to win games, as the team ranks first in the league in points allowed per game (57.0). Warburton, the defending Defensive Player of the Year, is a big aid in the team's defensive output, as she leads the nation in steals and ranks second in the GNAC in rebounds per game (12.0).

Offensively, Warburton scores 16.8 points per game and has totaled a league-leading 15 double-doubles on the season. Sophomore Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) adds 10.1 points per game and had a career-best 26 points in Saturday's win against Albertus Magnus. Freshman Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) chips in with 7.8 points per game off the bench for Anna Maria.

SCOUTING THE CADETS

Norwich (21-4, 8-3 GNAC) is led offensively by senior guard Aliah Curry who leads the league averaging 22.1 points per game. Sophomore forward Heather LeBlanc is second on the team and 10th in the league with 13.4 points per game, while senior guard Kelsey Lotti is ranked third on the team and 22nd in the GNAC scoring 10.6 points per game.

On the defensive end, LeBlanc leads the squad, sixth in the league, with 9.4 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Arianna Harrison is listed second on the team and 11th in the league, with 7.8 rebounds per game.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal will advance to the league's semifinal game against the winner of the No. 3 Johnson & Wales/No. 6 St. Joseph's (Maine) game. The game will be played at the home of the higher seed.

If the Cadets advance, it will be their second-straight semifinal appearance; if Anna Maria wins, it would be the first tournament semifinal appearance for the program since the 1997-98 season.