CASTLETON, Vt. - The Castleton women's basketball team outscored Plymouth St. by 22 points in the second half to cruise to a 82-48 victory over the Panthers on Tuesday night at Glenbrook Gymnasium. 

The Spartans forced Plymouth St. into 29 turnovers on the evening and held the Panthers to just 33.3 percent shooting in the contest, including just 5-for-23 in the second half. Castleton, meanwhile, shot 39 percent from the field and recorded 19 steals while turning over the ball just 11 times.

Junior Alyssa Leonard scored a team-high 15 points with five rebounds and was one of three players in double figures. Senior Kelly Conway and freshman Stephanie Linder each added 11, with Linder also recording four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Liz Douglass came off the bench to swipe a game-high six steals to go with nine points and three assists. 

Plymouth St. was led by Krystin Corliss, who poured in a team-high 15 points. Katie Seraikas added six points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the losing effort. 

Castleton got out to a slow start, trailing 6-4, before a three by Leonard gave the Spartans a 7-6 advantage with 15:04 left in the half. The Panthers tied it up at 13, but Castleton scored nine straight to grab a 22-13 advantage. Plymouth St. pulled within three, but the Spartans eventually stretched their lead to 40-28 at the half. 

The second half was all Castleton as the team outscored the Panthers 21-6 over the first eight minutes of play, including ten straight points to finish the run, pushing the Spartan advantage to 63-34. 

Castleton saw its lead balloon as high as 37 on a pair of occasions in the final ten minutes before finishing with the 34-point victory. 

Sophomore Jade Desroches led the team with four assists and added three rebounds as the Spartans finished with 23 helpers on the evening. Shelby LaBarge and Heather Murdough each pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

The Panthers drop to 1-2 on the season with the loss while the Spartans improve to 3-0. They return to action next Tuesday when they host Middlebury at 7 pm.