Receiving double-digit scoring from three players and tenacious defensive play from everyone, Greenwich High School’s varsity girls basketball team continued its streak of perfection in 2026 when St. Joseph High School came to town for a key early-season FCIAC matchup on Jan. 9th.

The Cardinals extended their impressive winning streak to six games, including five straight victories since the New Year began, rolling past the visiting Cadets, 60-34, improving their overall record to 6-1 in the process.

Sophomore center Zuri Faison scored a game-high 20 points, sophomore point guard Elsa Xhekaj added 17 points and senior guard/forward Madi Utzinger totaled 13 points to pace Greenwich’s powerful offense.

Greenwich held a 14-7 lead on St. Joe after the first quarter, then entered halftime ahead, 27-14, thanks to executed well on offense and playing effective man-to-man defense.

“I thought we played a great game defensively,” said Greenwich coach Megan Wax, whose Cardinals are 2-0 in FCIAC play. “They’re a team that can really push transition, they run the court well, they fill their lanes really well. They usually get a lot of corner 3s, so we focused on that a lot. How are we going to defend in transition, stop them from getting the shot that they like and then the pass back inside. I thought that we did the best we’ve done all season to stop them in that part.”

Sidelined against the Cardinals’ recent home win against Fairfield Ludlowe after tweaking her right foot, Utzinger was right back in action versus St. Joseph. Utzinger, a captain, appeared to be close to top form, flourishing on both ends of the court.

“I think it was very exciting, obviously, I was sad to miss the Ludlowe game, but I’m excited to be back and get back out there,” Utzinger said.

“She got right back into it and is a huge part of every part of our team as well as leadership, so it was great to have her back out there,” Wax said of Utzinger’s return.

Junior Madison Clark and freshman Olivia Atkins scored 12 points apiece for the Cadets (5-2 overall, 2-1 in the FCIAC).

The Cardinals knew what their tasks were on defense in order to slow down St. Joseph’s offense.

“They were good, a very aggressive team and great competition,” Greenwich senior guard/captain Juliette Pelham said of St. Joe. “They were solid on defense and on offense and their ball handling skills were good. We had to protect the perimeter a lot. I would say that was the big thing – shutting down 3s, because in previous games they drained those.”

Senior forward/captain Mikayla Kiernan scored seven points with two 3-pointers, while Pelham and senior Lauren Judge added two points apiece in the winning effort. Utzinger scored on a putback while being fouled, then made the ensuing free throw, upping the hosts’ lead on the Cadets to 34-18 early in the third quarter.

A runner in the lane from Utzinger, followed by a 3-pointer from the corner by Kiernan extended Greenwich’s advantage to 41-23. Faison made a basket off a strong up-and-under move at the 7:11 mark of the fourth quarter, putting GHS comfortably ahead, 47-28.

Like Greenwich, St. Joseph plays an aggressive defense. The Cardinals worked together well to alleviate some of the pressure the Cadets tried to apply.

“They’re a fast team, so when we got the ball we had to slow it down, don’t always push it,” Faison noted. “They were putting high pressure on the point guards, so coach said to help the guards out bring up the ball and let everybody catch their breath a little bit – slow it down.”

Faison scored 11 first-half points to continue her double-digit scoring streak so far this season.

“I feel like we did good on defense too,” Faison said. “There’s a couple of things we have to work on, but I feel like did well getting back on defense.”

Indeed, solid defensive play has continued to be one of the Cards’ trademarks. They’ve held each opponent under 40 points during their six game success streak.

“We played really strong all throughout and we executed really well,” Kiernan said. “I feel like it showed in the game, the things we worked on in practice, we executed.”

“We also played really strong man-to-man defense,” Kiernan continued. “We knew they were going to come out and try to shoot a lot of 3s and beat us in the middle and seal us. But we worked on it in practice and we executed in the game, so it showed.”

Defensive intensity and execution is always one of the Cardinals goals each game.

“We were working on our transition defense in practice, knowing that they’re a fast team,” Utzinger said of preparing to play St. Joseph. “So, I think that we really executed on getting back finding the right spots and I think we really communicating well and that’s what helped our defense thrive. They only scored 34 points which is a good amount to only let up.”

“I feel like it was a very physical game, but I feel like we had a talk at halftime and we decided to play together and build up the communication and push through it and play strong,” said Xhekaj, who scored 10 second-half points.”

Wax was impressed with how her squad handled the pressure the Cadets tried to apply on them.

“They were an extremely aggressive team, we knew that coming in that there was going to be a lot of high ball pressure,” Wax noted. “So, we tried to work a lot on helping alleviate the pressure on the top, but also making some adjustments mid game to not play as fast as they wanted us to play. I thought we did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Greenwich is in action again on Jan. 13 with a road game against FCIAC foe Wilton at 7 p.m.