ELMIRA – For the first time in 18 years, the Norwich Girls Basketball team is on top of the Southern Tier Athletic Conference. With their convincing 74-39 victory over the Owego Indians Friday night at Elmira High School, the Purple Tornado handed the previously-undefeated Indians their first loss of the season.

Norwich made 10 3-pointers in the contest, nine of them coming in the first half when the Tornado went into the break leading by 18 points. Owego did not register one made 3-pointer in the game, giving Norwich the 30-0 advantage leading to their 35 point victory.

Four made shots from behind the arc in the first quarter came by the shooting hands of four different Lady Tornado players – Sydney Coggins, Halea Eaton, Triniti Myers, and Nicole Jeffrey – as the team totaled a 26-point opening game stretch. Eaton’s 3 ball closed the quarter out with a buzzer-beater.

On the other side of the floor, Owego’s stand-out Kaci Donovan tallied 10 of her 20 first-half points while teammate Anna Felice made three trips the foul line, going 5-for-6 to help keep the Indians close.

To start the second, Donovan converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, pulling Owego within single digits. However, the long-range shooting by Norwich sparked a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of the stanza to change the lead from eight points to 18 points quickly.