Big Fourth Quarter Lifts St. Norbert Past Cornell

From Sports Information Director, December 19, 2015 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College had a decisive run early in the fourth quarter as the Green Knights won a key Midwest Conference game by a 64-46 score over Cornell College on Connie Tilley Court at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights (6-3, 5-0 MWC) were holding on to a precarious 44-41 lead after three quarters, but opened the first 5 minutes 15 seconds of the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run.

Brianna Byrne got the run started with a layup and 3-pointer for a 49-41 lead. Cornell's Kellie Kuzmanic countered with a basket, but St. Norbert got a hoop from Regan Carmichael to push the lead back to eight points. Jill Kleiman made a pair of free throws and Rachel Hagge canned a baseline jumper with 4:45 remaining for a 55-43 edge.

St. Norbert had a 10-0 run late in the first quarter over a 2-minute stretch to take a 16-6 lead after 10 minutes, fueled by Kyra VandenHeuvel getting five points and a 3-pointer from Kleiman.

Cornell (5-4, 3-2) trailed 31-21 with 2:43 left in the second quarter but closed the period on a 7-0 run to trail 31-28 at halftime.

St. Norbert had a 9-2 run early in the third quarter to take a 40-30 lead, but Cornell answered again with a 7-0 run of its own to trail 44-41 at the end of the stanza.

Carmichael led St. Norbert with 17 points, while Kleiman added 12 points and VandenHeuvel 11 points. The Green Knights shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the floor and outrebounded the Rams 37-33.

Cornell shot 34.6 percent (18-for-52) from the floor and had the rare distinction of shooting the same from beyond the three-point arc as the free-throw line (5-for-17, 29.4 percent). Maggie Hogen led the Rams with 15 points, while Kuzmanic added 11 points.