St. Norbert Drives Stake Through Transylvania

From Sports Information Director, December 20, 2008 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

ATLANTA - St. Norbert College used a Sterling-silver first-half defensive effort en route to warding off Transylvania University by a 78-49 score on the second day of the Oglethorpe University Holiday Classic at Dorough Field House.

The Green Knights held the Pioneers to just 4 of 32 shooting from the floor in the first half in order to build a 42-17 halftime lead. The Green Knights improved to 6-3 overall, while Transylvania fell to 8-2.

Transylvania missed its first 16 shots from the floor in the game's first seven minutes as St. Norbert built a 12-1 lead. The Green Knights kept on the defensive pressure, eventually taking a 37-11 lead with 3:31 left in the first half on a layup by Cortney Biese. St. Norbert settled on a 42-17 lead at halftime.

The Pioneers scored on their first possession of the second half on a basket by Holly Milburn, but a layup and 3-pointer by Denise Heuser put St. Norbert ahead 47-19 with 17:51 to go. Transylvania would get no closer than 23 points the rest of the game, trailing 49-26 with 15:29 left. An 11-4 St. Norbert run put the Green Knights ahead 60-30 with 12:53 to go and sealed the victory for good.

St. Norbert hoisted an impressive 77 field-goal attempts, making 33 for 42.9 percent. The Green Knights also held a commanding 55-39 rebounding advantage and committed just 11 turnovers. Heuser led St. Norbert with 15 points, while Krista Pelky came off the bench to add 11 points. Emily Otzelberger had nine points and nine rebounds off the bench before fouling out in 10 minutes. All 13 Green Knights who saw game action scored.

Transylvania ended up shooting 14-for-63 from the floor, good for 22.2 percent. The Pioneers were haunted by an 0-for-13 showing from behind the three-point arc but were 21-for-26 at the free-throw line. Kelsey McCarty had a team-high 14 points for the Pioneers.