Plymouth played their first non-conference game in nearly a month, and despite a valiant road effort, fell to Norwich University earning their 8th straight loss, falling to 6-13 overall on the season. Norwich had four players in double digits, with forward Heather LeBlanc leading the way with a monster night, pulling down 16 boards and posting 21 points for the Cadets. DeAsia Lawrence (Middletown, C.T.) led the Panthers with 18 points, and senior Tiffany Lewis (Hillsboro, N.H.) tallied 15 points and pulled down eight boards.
The Panthers have been in a scoring slump, as they’ve only scored an average of 38 points in their seven game losing streak, going into the game at Norwich. The Cadets took control of the game early as senior Tory Kathro scored the first six points of the game. After an 8-0 run, Plymouth responded with six points in less than two minutes to pull within a basket. The majority of the first half was back and forth scoring until LeBlanc fed teammate Arianna Harrison for an easy layup, which sparked a 9-0 Norwich run. Plymouth tried to respond, and went on a 7-3 run, but Norwich capped off the half with a another nine point run and held a 12 point lead going into the half, 38-26.
The lead for Norwich stayed at 10 points for the majority of the second half, and although Plymouth put up another eight points in the closing minutes of the game, an easy layup and a set of free throws iced the game, 68-60.
With Plymouth State dropping their last eight games, something needs to be done for any chance to move up in the standings and secure a spot in the LEC tournament. With five of their final six games being all in-conference, they have a lot of catching up to do.