NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) of the Norwich University women's basketball team became the third student-athlete in team history to record 1,000 career rebounds on Saturday. Despite the efforts of LeBlanc, the Cadets fell to Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University by a 62-48 margin in Andrews Hall. 

Norwich falls to 14-9 overall on the year, dipping to 8-6 against Great Northeast Athletic Conference competition. The Wildcats move to 16-7 on the season, winning 11-of-14 league contests in 2016-17. 

LeBlanc scored 17 points and added seven rebounds for the Cadets, crossing the 1,000 career rebound threshold in the first half of action. She is one of only three student-athletes in program history with at least 1,000 career points scored and 1,000 career rebounds, joining Lisa Trujillo '94 and Kelly White '86. 

Ranked ninth in NCAA Division III among active players with 1,006 rebounds, LeBlanc also becomes the fifth player in Great Northeast Athletic Conference history to score at least 1,000 points and reel in as many rebounds. She exited play on Saturday with 1,384 points, trailing Kate Devine '99 for third place in team history by only five points. 

Senior Leanne Winans (Hudson, N.H.) finished second on the squad with 10 points, tying with LeBlanc for the team lead with seven caroms. Sophomore Emily Oliver (Sagamore Hills, Ohio) reached the nine-point threshold for Norwich, making her team's lone three-point basket of the afternoon. 

The Cadets and Wildcats played a see-saw first quarter that saw the score tied on four separate occasions. With both teams tied at 10 following an Oliver layup in the paint, Johnson & Wales rattled off four-straight points to take a 14-10 lead into the second stanza. The Wildcats would extend its scoring run to 11-straight points following a Thompson layup with 7:56 to go in the first half, creating a 21-10 advantage. 

A layup from junior Paige McNally (Barre, Vt.) cut the Cadets deficit to five points, 23-18, but Norwich would yield seven of the game's next eight points to lift Johnson & Wales to a 30-20 halftime deficit. In the second quarter alone, the Wildcats scored 11 points off of Cadets miscues. 

Johnson & Wales would create a 14-point lead on two separate occasions in the third quarter before Oliver would beat the buzzer with a three-pointer, sending Norwich into the fourth quarter down by 11 points, 47-36. Oliver would pour home four-straight points for the Cadets to begin the fourth quarter, shrinking the visitors lead to 49-40. 

With just under seven minutes to go in regulation time, back-to-back jumpers by the Wildcats would establish a 13-point lead that would grow to 14 as time expired following a jumper from Wildcats freshman Cayleigh Shufelt. 

Ashley Thompson had a monster game for Johnson & Wales, scoring 21 points after shooting 10-for-17 from the floor. She also established a new program record for the Wildcats, entering play needing only four made field goals to stand alone atop the Johnson & Wales list. Raquel Pederzani scored 16 points, finishing with a team-leading four rebounds. 

Norwich honored its three graduating senior student-athletes prior to the contest, recognizing LeBlanc, Winans and Kayla Mercer (New Britain, Conn.). Additionally, team managers Mary Fitzpatrick and Mallory Sudduth were acknowledged for their contributions to the program during their time in Northfield. 

The Cadets will take on Saint Joseph's (Maine) this Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. – the Monks currently lead the GNAC North Division with a 13-1 record against league foes.