St. Norbert Hands No. 19 Cornell First Loss

From Sports Information Director, January 19, 2013 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College came out on top in a hard-fought defensive battle with a 47-44 win over Cornell College in a Midwest Conference game on Connie Tilley Court at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (12-4, 9-2 MWC) handed the Rams, ranked 19th in the D3hoops.com Top 25, their first loss of the season. Cornell (15-1, 10-1) remains one game ahead of St. Norbert in the MWC standings with seven games left to play.

St. Norbert held a 13-point lead early in the second half, going ahead 34-21 on a Krista Hawkinson layup with 17:10 remaining. The Green Knights, who still led by nine at 42-33 with 8:08 left, saw their lead entirely melt away when Cornell tied the game at 42-42 with 3:37 to go on a Taylor Dicus layup.

The Green Knights stayed mired in an offensive cold spell but stopped the Rams four consecutive times after the game was tied. St. Norbert then got a huge 3-pointer from Tasha Giese as the shot clock was expiring for a 45-42 lead with 1:40 left. Following another stop, Hawkinson put the Green Knights ahead 47-42 with 1:01 to go.

Cornell got a pair of free throws by Camille Marie with 44 seconds left, and St. Norbert came up empty on its ensuing possession. Cornell's Rikki Mulloy lost control of the ball as the final seconds ticked away, and Kellie Kuzmanic's 21-footer at the buzzer was off the mark.

St. Norbert, which is now 2-0 against Top 25 opponents this season, shot 41.3 percent from the floor by making 19 of 46 field goals. Hawkinson led the Green Knights, who never trailed, with 18 points. Giese finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Cornell shot 32.1 percent from the floor, making 17 of 53 field-goal attempts. Marie finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Dicus added six points and 10 rebounds.