PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team stretched its winning streak to three with a 69-44 victory over Norwich University to close out action at the Cardinal Classic on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall. In a series that spans 37 games and dates back to the 1977-78 season, the Cardinals' 25-point win marks the largest margin of victory for either team in the all-time series between Plattsburgh State and Norwich.
 
The Cardinals shot 35.8 percent (24-of-67) from the floor, 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from 3-point range and 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the line for the game, and they forced the Cadets into 40 turnovers. Norwich finished with a 51-30 edge in rebounds.
 
Four Cardinals reached double figures in scoring, led by junior guard Mya Smith's (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) 16 points. First-year forward Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) and sophomore guard Brinley Inglee (Hudson Falls, N.Y./Hudson Falls) scored 15 and 10 points, respectively, while junior guard Kanesha Strider (Long Island, N.Y./Longwood) matched a career high with 11 points in 22 minutes coming off the bench. Senior guard Kayla Doody (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) continued her torrid pace of racking up assist numbers, dishing out nine to bring her weekend total to 20.
 
For Norwich, first-year guard Haley Brewster posted a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, while sophomore guard Silas Bernier distributed six assists.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 3-1 overall with the win and next visits St. Lawrence University on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 5:30 p.m. Norwich falls to 0-3 overall with the loss at next visits Lesley University on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m.
 
Norwich scored the first five points of the game before Couture put the Cardinals on the board with a jumper. The Cadets pushed their lead back out to five before a layup and a free throw by Couture on back-to-back possessions pulled the home team within two. Norwich led by as many as six in the period, but Inglee knocked down a pair of free throws with four seconds left in the stanza to draw the Cardinals within four (14-10) through 10 minutes of play.
 
A 3-pointer by Strider and a made jumper by senior guard Brittani Campbell (Rochester, N.Y./Edison Tech) handed Plattsburgh State a 15-14 lead early in the second quarter, but Norwich turned the tables with three unanswered points to regain a two-point edge. Couture nailed a jumper and Doody drained a 3-pointer to put the Cardinals out in front, 20-17, but Norwich's junior guard Alexis Matte buried a layup five seconds before the halftime buzzer to pull the Cadets within one at 20-19 heading into the intermission.
 
Plattsburgh State ended up scoring more points in the third quarter (29) than the entire first half, outscoring Norwich, 29-6, during the period to break the game open. Couture hit a 3-pointer and buried a jumper on back-to-back possessions to give the Cardinals a 25-19 lead, and after Norwich's first-year forward Maren McGinn knocked down two free throws to pull the visitors within four, the Cardinals went on a game-changing 15-0 run, which Smith capped off with a pair of free throws with 3:08 left in the third to hand Plattsburgh State a 40-21 cushion. The Cardinals ended the period with a 6-0 run that consisted of three points each from Strider and Couture, and they took a 24-point lead (49-25) into the final regulation stanza.
 
Norwich was unable to draw closer than 22 points in the fourth quarter, and the Cardinals' high-water mark of the game came when Campbell gave Plattsburgh State a 28-point lead with 37 seconds left. Norwich's first-year guard/forward Erika Thomas converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play with 21 seconds to go, and the Cardinals held onto the ball on their final possession to pull out the 69-44 victory.