DE PERE - St. Norbert College stormed back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to post a 69-64 win over Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights trailed 49-36 about 2 1/2 minutes into the third quarter before a 7-1 run got them back into the game. A 3-pointer from
Casey Jepson and hoops by
Marnie Kahl and Jepson got St. Norbert to within 50-43 with 4:40 left in the period. Benedictine briefly got the lead back up to 10 at 54-44 with 3:17 left, but St. Norbert trailed 56-48 after three quarters.
St. Norbert then scored on eight of its first 10 fourth-quarter possessions to surge ahead. The Eagles led 62-54 with 7 minutes left when a
Taylor Thiry basket jump-started an impressive 15-2 run to close the game. Thiry followed with another basket and
Avery Bierowski's layup made it 62-60 with 5:44 left.
Emma Morrisey then got a loose ball under the basket for a layup to tie the game with 4:45 to go. Thiry's drive and a layup then gave St. Norbert a 64-62 lead with 4:12 left. Benedictine's Jordan Carlquist tied the game at 64-64 at the 3:47 mark.
Kaya Stropus then broke the tie with two free throws after being fouled on a three-point field-goal attempt with 2:44 to go. Thiry then made two free throws with 1:46 left for a 68-64 lead. Jepson split a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left for the game's final point.
The game opened with a back-and-forth flow leading Benedictine to hold a 19-18 lead after 10 minutes. The Eagles held the lead throughout the second quarter, settling on a 43-36 halftime advantage.
St. Norbert shot 45.3 percent (24-for-53) from the floor and was 20-for-28 (71.4 percent) at the free-throw line. Thiry poured in a career-high 26 points on 11 of 15 shooting from the floor. Jepson and
Chloe Gruszynski added nine points apiece.
Benedictine shot 40.6 percent (28-for-69) from the floor, connected on 7 of 20 (35 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and made one free throw in two attempts. Ryann Ogarek led the Eagles with 24 points and nine rebounds. Carlquist added 18 points.
