Case Western Reserve University senior forward Kayla Characklis scored 10 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Spartans to a 73-60 win over Norwich University at the Puerto Rico Clasicó in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday afternoon.

The Spartans' win will send the team into the New Year and the start of conference play with an overall record of 7-4 and winners of five of their last six games. The Cadets fell to 5-5 with the loss.

Characklis led a trio of Spartans scoring in double figures on Thursday, making eight-of-10 shots from the floor and adding a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard/forward Emily Plachta matched her career-high with four made three-pointers and recorded a season-best 15 points. Graduate student forward Kate Montgomery scored 13 points and collected seven rebounds, while senior guard Margaret Terry came off the bench to score eight points and lead all Spartan players with five assists and a pair of steals.

For the second-straight game in Puerto Rico, the Spartans' defense was able to force turnovers in abundance, with the Cadets giving the ball up 18 times in the game compared to just eight for CWRU, resulting in a 26-7 edge in points off turnovers for the Spartans. CWRU also collected 12 offensive rebounds (compared to just four for the Cadets) and finished with a 12-2 edge in second-chance points.

Thursday's game featured several big runs for both teams, but the Spartans made their final run hold, ending the contest on an 11-0 spurt over the final five minutes that turned a two-point lead into a 13-point final difference. CWRU outscored Norwich 20-6 overall in the fourth quarter, which helped to turn a three-point deficit early in the quarter into a double-digit win.

The Spartans led by four in the first quarter after a layup by Montgomery with 5:37 left in the period put CWRU in front 9-5. However, the Spartans struggled to score for the remainder of the quarter, as Norwich ended the frame on a 9-0 run to take a 14-9 lead into the second period. Characklis put an end to the scoreless stretch with a layup to start the second, but the Spartans remained behind and went on to trail by as many as 11 points in the period. Down 25-14 with 5:49 left in the half, CWRU launched on a 10-0 run, capped off by a pair of threes from Terry, that trimmed the Cadets' lead to a point with 3:05 to play. The Spartans went on to end the half on an 11-1 run that included a pair of three-point shots from junior guard Nyah Moore and took a seven-point lead, 35-28, into halftime.

CWRU went on to lead by a game-high 14 points, 46-32, with 6:31 left in the third, but an 18-0 run by Norwich over the next four minutes put the Spartans behind once again. The Cadets led by five, 54-49, with 1:25 left in the third, but the Spartans were able to trim the deficit to a point by the end of the quarter with a layup by first-year guard Mya Hartjes and a pair of free throws from Terry that set the score at 54-53 heading into the fourth.

The Cadets hit the first basket of the final period to extend their lead to three points, but Hartjes connected on a three with 8:04 remaining in the game to tie the score at 56-56, and CWRU never trailed again in the contest. With the Spartans leading 62-60 with 5:26 left, the team's defense locked down to hold Norwich scoreless the rest of the way, and Plachta (seven points) and Characklis (four points) combined to score 11 straight points for the CWRU to secure the win.

After a slow start shooting, CWRU went on to shoot at least 44.4% from the floor in each of the final three quarters and ended the contest shooting 36.4% overall. The Spartans connected on a season-high 11 three-point shots in the game (the most made by the team since February 10, 2023, against Rochester), and their 35 attempted threes were the most in a game since trying a school-record 36 three-point shots against Brandeis on January 26, 2018.

Thursday's game completed the Spartans' non-conference schedule for the season, as CWRU will now turn its attention toward the start of University Athletic Association play in January. The Spartans will open conference competition on Saturday, January 6 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with tipoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.