Women's Hoops Uses Stifling Defense To Take Down Norwich, 68-29, Saturday Afternoon

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team dominated at home, taking down Norwich University (Norwich), 68-29, during Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play Saturday afternoon inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays improve to 8-5 on the season and 3-0 in GNAC play while the Cadets move to 6-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Blue Jays grabbed the early advantage, taking a 6-3 lead after a graduate student guard Taylor Verboven (Columbia, Conn.) jumper at the 7:28 mark.
• USJ would extend the gap to 10-3 with 6:08 left in the first, after back-to-back buckets from Verboven and graduate student forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.)
• The Blue Jays continued to roll, as Ouellette established a double-digit lead, 16-5, with an easy layup with 2:10 left in the first.
• The two teams traded buckets to close out the quarter, as USJ took a 21-7 edge into the second.
• The Blue Jays opened the second on a 9-3 scoring run, capped off by a triple from senior guard Maya Slisz (New Britain, Conn.), increasing the advantage to 31-20 as the game reached a media timeout with 4:56 left in the half.
• USJ continued to roll, utilizing a 6-2 run, featuring buckets from Verboven, Ouellette and graduate student guard Maci Dorantes (Bristol, Conn.), to extend the gap to 25, 37-12, with 2:28 on the clock.
• The Blue Jays would end the half on a 4-2 stretch, as the team took a 41-14 lead into the halftime break.
• USJ would play stellar defense to start the third quarter, as Slisz knocked down a close-range jumper to increase the lead to 47-14, with 5:29 left in the quarter.
• The Blue Jays controlled the remainder of the third, increasing the gap to 58-16 entering the fourth.
• Norwich would outscore the Blue Jays in the fourth quarter, 13-10, but the gap proved too much to overcame as USJ secured the 68-29 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Ouellette finished with a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds.
• Verboven and Slisz also dropped double-figures, scoring 14 and 10 points, respectively.
• Ouellette, Slisz and Verboven all dished out a team-best three assists.
• Freshman guard Nevaeh Yorke (Norwich, Conn.) swiped a game-high four steals.
• USJ held Norwich to a 23.9 percent shooting clip.
• The Blue Jays won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Cadets, 42-30.
• USJ were dominate defensively, scoring 35 points off 35 Norwich turnovers.
• All 16 active members of the roster saw minutes.

UP NEXT
The Blue Jays head back on the road, making the trek to Paxton, Mass., to face Anna Maria College on Wednesday, January 15. Tipoff against the AMCATS inside the Fuller Activities Center is set for 5:00 p.m.

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