Northfield, Vt. - The Castleton Spartans extended their record-book opening to their season, defeating Norwich 63-53 and improving to a program-best 9-0 to begin the season. Jade Desroches scored a career-high 20 points as the Spartans took down Norwich in Northfield on Tuesday night.

Castleton trailed for a large part of the game, including the first five minutes of the second half, but were able to use team depth to their advantage down the stretch as the Spartan bench outscored the Norwich bench 42-11. 

Senior guard Kelly Conway opened the game's scoring with a three-pointer 1:03 into the game. After a layup from Norwich's Aliah Curry, Conway drilled another shot from long distance to give the Spartans an early 6-2 edge. 

From there, the Cadets went on a 14-4 run, spurred by 10 more points from Curry, to take a 16-10 lead just over eight minutes into the contest. Castleton and Norwich continued to trade baskets for the rest of the half. It was DesRoches who kept the Spartans in the game, scoring 10 of the team's final 16 points in the first half. The teams entered the break with Norwich leading 31-26.

The Spartans came out of the locker room poised to play better defense in the second half. The squad's tenacious ball pressure and tight defense forced the Cadets to go 0-for-5 from the floor to begin the second half, allowing Castleton to claw back within one point of the lead with 17:21 remaining in the game.

The visiting Spartans took their first lead of the second half when Shelby Labarge converted a layup off a Steph Linder steal with 15:49 remaining. After the Cadets hit a three-pointer to make it 36-34, Labarge scored again from the paint to tie the game 36-36. 

After a pair of Liz Douglass free throws put the Spartans up two, Stephanie Bull earned a steal that turned into a DesRoches three-pointer, putting the Spartans up 41-36 with just under 12 minutes to play.

Norwich kept fighting throughout the game though, pulling within one on a three-point shot from Curry with 4:58 left in the contest. The Spartans were able to hold their lead and extend the margin, going 10-for-10 from the foul line in the final five minutes of the game. 

Norwich's Curry led all scorers with 29, while teammate Kelsey Lotti had nine. The Cadets fall to 4-5 on the year and will travel to Daytona Beach, Fla. to take part in the Land of Magic Tournament on December 28 and 29.

Shelby Labarge recorded her first double-double as a Spartan, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Douglass and Conway each tallied eight points for Castleton, who will enter the holiday break without a loss for the first time in program history. The team will travel to Orlando, Fla. where they will take on St. Joseph's (L.I.) on December 28.