Women’s Basketball Downs Norwich, 65-48

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Rivier women's basketball team came away from a road Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest at Norwich with a 65-48 victory on Wednesday night at Andrews Hall with Rachel Guinn leading the offense with 19 points.

The Raiders improved to 5-9 (3-1 GNAC) while the Cadets stumbled below .500 overall to 6-7 and remain in search of their first conference victory.

Late threes by Alyssa Scharn and Alexa Dufries helped put Rivier up 24-13 after the first quarter Rivier shot 50% from the field on 20 attempts and 50% from deep on eight tries.

Another Scharn three-pointer 3:11 into the second gave the Raiders a 16-point advantage over the hosts. Rivier would hold a 36-22 lead at the break, with Rachel Guinn leading the way with nine points and five rebounds.

After increasing the lead to 17 points, Rivier allowed Norwich to go on a run through the fourth quarter as the Cadets outscored the Raiders 21-10 to cut the deficit to three points. Maren McGinn scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the frame to propel the hosts within striking distance.

Rivier quickly gained back a healthy cushion as the Raiders started on a 15-1 run over the opening 5:35 to hold a 61-44 lead. The Raiders would allow just five points in the quarter as Guinn scored nine points, followed by Anna Stenger with eight.

Guinn finished with 19 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block. Stenger scored 12 points to go along with six rebounds, and two assists. Lyric Grumblatt finished with 11 points, eight boards, seven steals, and two assists and Scharn had a career-best 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting along with three steals.

Rivier earned 18 steals as Norwich turned the ball over 26 times.

The Raiders will host Saint Joseph (Conn.) in GNAC play on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Muldoon Center with tip-off set for 2:00 p.m.