NU women's basketball team finishes season 17-10

By Dana Harris
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

The Norwich University Women's basketball team finished their winning season with a 17-10 record. On Feb. 28, the Cadets had a 76-52 semi-final loss to Emanuel College, reminiscent of the two previous years.

Head Coach Steve Lanpher said of Emanuel: "their depth and aggressiveness hurt us." This feeling was illustrated when Emanuel had a 15-0 run following the Cadets' attempt to close the gap to three points with 10 minutes left in the first half.

"We outscored them in the second half. We came out and fought hard and never gave up," said Lanpher. Notable for the Cadets were Kim Sweeney, who led Norwich with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Inara Coleman, who added a valuable 10 points.

Kim Sweeney, 20, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice from Fair Haven, Vt., said, " I was disappointed but felt we improved a lot with our new coach, Lanpher. He's a great coach. We were a better team than we were last year."

Sweeney was confident when she said that she "wouldn't change anything, from the coach to our team."

According to Lanpher, the Cadets had a great season and will return the whole roster next season for another shot at the Championship.

Kristen Purcell, 20, a junior majoring in English from South Glenns Falls, NY, said, "It was good, even though we lost in the semis. I thought we did really well, having a new coach.

"I really liked him a lot, the way he got us all together as a team," Purcell said. "The team chemistry was unbelievable. We have a lot to work on for next year, but I think overall I was really happy with the season."

According to Purcell, Lanpher was very positive and was enthusiastic about doing things to promote team unity "on and off the court." She also said, "In pre-season, he worked us hard; he just really knew what he was doing, and I'm really glad he came here."

"We were all really pumped for that game; all of us wanted to win, and we tried really hard, but of course it was upsetting, but just seeing where we got and having a new coach, new players, we really did succeed. And of course it's disappointing, but there's always next year," said Purcell of the loss to Emanuel.

Reviewing other critical games this season, the Norwich women held a 21-point margin to achieve a 73-52 win over Rivier College Feb. 1. Alicia Crismale, sophomore from Guilford, Conn., led the Cadets with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Lisa Belmonte, a junior from Leavittown, NY., also had 18 points, five assists, and five rebounds. Diana Monahan, a junior from Westboro, Mass., added a helpful 16 points to the victory. With this win, the Cadets improved their record to 15-7 overall and 8-2 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

On Feb. 15, with a 75-41win over Pine Manor College, the Cadets further improved their record to 16-7 overall and 9-2 in the GNAC. Major contributors to the win were Sweeney, who had 16 points, followed by Jamie Abrams who added 14, and Belmonte with 13. High scorer, Belmonte, could not help her Cadets, who fell to Middlebury College in spite of her 13-point effort. Although the Cadets battled their way to within three points in the early part of the second half, the rally was met with a 12-0 run by Middlebury. Belmonte also came up with four assists and eight rebounds. Alicia Crismale added eight points and five rebounds in the loss that brought their record to 16-8.

Left with only one regular season game, the Cadets looked forward to post-season.

The Cadets' finale was disappointing. Even with a 15-point lead at the half, the team could not capture the win against Albertus Magnus, the GNAC number two seed. Before fouling out, Belmonte had another big game scoring almost half of the Cadets points, plus five assists. Crismale added 13 points, while Sweeney and Kristen Purcell were absent from the starting five. The effort was valid, but the result was an unfortunate loss and a decline in their record to 16-9 overall and 9-4 in the GNAC. Even though the game was lost, the future was bright; the Cadets had qualified for the GNAC tournament at 4th seed.

On Feb. 25, in their first playoff game of the season, the Cadets hosted Suffolk at Andrews Hall. The team was victorious, thanks to valiant efforts by both Sweeney and Belmonte, who had 14 and 13 points respectively. Belmonte had a victory of her own when she claimed the assist record for the university. Though she only needed four assists she had eight assists to break the record of 375 that was set in 2000 by Kate Hopkins. Belmonte also had five rebounds in the match up. The night was full of highlights, when Tiffany Burroughs from Newbury, Vt., made a three-pointer that ignited a scoring spree. Ending the run was a confident three by Monahan with 25 seconds left in the half that brought the score to 27-25. Jumpers by Belmonte and Jamie Abrams, of Wantaugh, N.Y., helped the Cadets gain their first lead in the game. With 7:30 to play, this lead was maintained with a healthy 10-point surge including back-to-back jumpers by Monahan. In the final minutes of the game, the Cadets were only 50 percent from the free throw line but the Rams were less than 10 percent from the field, connecting only one of their 12 shot attempts. With a final score of 54-53 the Cadets' record improved to 17-9. The win also ensured that the women's team would advance to the semifinals and a chance at GNAC glory.

The Cadet's starting lineup will return next season for another championship run at the GNAC.

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