Basketball Tops Norwich, 76-63

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Devon Diliberto (Waterbury, Conn.) scored 21 points and Shauna Sullivan (Rocky Hill, Conn.) had her third consecutive double-double with 10 points as the University of Saint Joseph basketball team defeated Norwich 76-63 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game Thursday at the O'Connell Center.

St. Joseph improved to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the GNAC. Norwich is 9-11 and 2-5.

USJ won its fourth game in a row, all in the conference. Again the Blue Jays took good care of the ball with just 10 turnovers on the night while forcing 19. In its four-game winning streak, USJ has forced 97 turnovers while committing just 46.

The Blue Jays used just six players and got contributions from all of them: Mary Hyde (Derby, Conn.)  had 11 points, six steals and five assists, Brianna Ferraro (Waterbury, Conn.) scored 17, Heather Framski (Waterbury, Conn.) had eight points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots and Lindsey Dionne (Portland, Conn.) scored nine.

Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) led Norwich with 24 points including an 11-for-11 performance at the free throw line. Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) scored 21 for the Cadets and Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) had eight points and 12 rebounds.

Lotti scored 10 points and LeBlanc six in the first 9:30 to help Norwich to its biggest lead of the night at 18-10, but USJ chipped away and led 30-28 at halftime.

The Blue Jays relinquished the lead for just 23 seconds in the second half. A pair of free throws by Curry put Norwich ahead 47-46 with 9:16 to play, but Diliberto followed with a jumper with 8:53 left and the Blue Jays edged ahead throughout the closing stages.

Both teams' leading scorers broke out after quite first halves. Curry was 1-for-13 shooting and had four first-half points, but had 20 after intermission. Diliberto was 1-for-3 for two first-half points, but shot 6-for-8 in the second half, 4-for-5 from three-point range and had 19 points after the break.

The Athletic Department honored all USJ Student-Athletes with at least at 3.0 GPA in the fall semester in its annual "Blue Jay Honors" ceremony at halftime. 

USJ hosts Emmanuel Saturday Feb. 8 in a GNAC game at 1 p.m.