Cadet women eke out 75-74 victory
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By Anna Grearson TIMES ARGUS STAFF - Published: November 16, 2009
NORTHFIELD – The Norwich women's basketball team certainly made new head coach Mark Zacher's first win as a Cadet a memorable one, gutting out a 75-74 victory over Plattsburgh State in the season opener for both teams on Sunday.
"I definitely liked the intensity that we played with," said Zacher, who replaces Mark Miller and comes to Norwich after serving as an assistant at Bethune-Cookman University and Mount St. Mary's. "The girls didn't give up. They had fought back a number of times to get back in the game, and our girls responded each time. We just have to learn how to finish and close out games."
Norwich regained the lead at 57-56 on a 3-pointer by Ally Daniels with 6:26 left in the second half. That lead grew to 67-60 at the 3:38 mark on a shot by former U-32 standout Kylie Cowens. The Cadet advantage hovered around five points over the next three minutes until Plattsburgh State went on a 10-4 run over the final 38 seconds.
Cardinal Lindsey Larivee of Enosburg cut the deficit to three with a pair of free throws with 22.8 seconds left and cut it to two with a 3 seven seconds later. Cadet Natalie Marchese sank two of her own free throws to put Norwich back up 75-71, but two seconds later, a 3 by Plattsburgh's Lyndsey Moore bounced around and in to bring the Cardinals within one, 75-74, with 2.4 seconds left in regulation.
Plattsburgh's Catherine Cassidy came up with an inbounds steal and called timeout while she was falling out of bounds, which gave the Cardinals possession under their own basket with 2 seconds to go. The Norwich defense held and the Cardinals were forced to take a desperation shot that didn't come close to hitting the backboard, and the 75-74 final stood.
"Some of it is maybe first-game jitters, particularly in playing under a new coach, and there are a few little different things that we're doing," Zacher said of his team's finish. "It's just recognizing when we want to push the tempo at the end or when to slow it up, or when we have teams that are down six or seven, when to take care of the clock and push it up to 10 or so."
Norwich led 36-30 at the half, having gone to the foul line 18 times (and making 14 of those attempts) to Plattsburgh's three trips. For the game, Norwich made good on 25-of-34 free-throw attempts while Plattsburgh shot just 8-of-14.
"We have a real, real simple philosophy," Zacher said. "The team that's going to take and make the most free-throws is going to win. They outscored us from the floor 66 to 60; we outscored them from the free-throw line. We went to the free-throw line 34 times. I definitely want to get the free-throw line. Basketball is one of the only games you can score without the clock running and defense being played."
The Cadets scored off the opening tip as Daniels converted a layup and teammate Erica Rate made it 5-0 Norwich with a 3-pointer after stealing the Cardinals' first possession.
A Norwich turnover led to Plattsburgh's first lead of the game 10-9, with 13:42 left in the first half. Norwich regained the lead on the next possession, and the lead changed hands 16 more times throughout the contest.
Jess Jaggars of Vergennes led the Cadets with 17 points and 12 rebounds, with nine of those rebounds coming off the defensive glass. Cowens and Ally Daniels both scored 13 points, and Christine Daniels added 11 points and nine rebounds – eight of which were defensive boards.
Taylor Amarando led the Cardinals with 14 points, Moore had 13 points and Molly Harte, Ashley Gyscek and Larivee all had 10 points.
Norwich outrebounded Plattsburgh 40-35.
Norwich (1-0) will travel to Springfield, Mass., next weekend to participate in the Golden Bear Challenge at Western New England College. The Cadets will meet Trinity College on Saturday and either Bay Path College or the host Golden Bears on Sunday.
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