CASTLETON, Vt. – The Spartans put forth one of their most impressive defensive efforts of the year, spearheaded by senior Jade Desroches, to earn a hard-fought 56-41 victory over Colby-Sawyer in North Atlantic Conference action at Glenbrook Gym on Tuesday evening.

Desroches was a menace defensively, swiping seven steals and blocking three shots while scoring a team-high 19 points. The senior shot 6-for-14 from the floor, including 4-for-8 from downtown as the team shot just 31.7 percent from the floor overall. However, Castleton held the Chargers to just 26.4 percent shooting and forced 25 turnovers. Colby-Sawyer did outrebound the Spartans 47-35, but recorded just five second-chance points.

In addition to Desroches, Meghan O'Sullivan and Lindsay Sabo both reached double figures with ten points apiece. O'Sullivan added five rebounds, three assists and two blocks while Sabo pulled down three boards. Amanda Beatty played well off the bench with six points, two blocks and one steal while Bryanna DuPont pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Freshman Amanda Calvo led the Chargers with nine points off the bench as no player scored in double figures. Kelsey Cahill filled up the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals while Jessica Shenkel chipped in with six points and seven rebounds but shot just 2-for-10 from the floor.

Castleton jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the opening two minutes but Colby-Sawyer held the Spartans scoreless over the next six minutes to even up the game at five apiece. O'Sullivan hit a pair of free throws to break the draw and Castleton extended its lead to 11-5 in one minute. Cahill eventually pulled the Chargers back within two, 14-12, on a layup at 7:23. Desroches countered with a personal 8-3 run to push the lead to 22-15 with 4:38. Colby-Sawyer closed the gap to 22-18 in the final minute, but Sabo drilled a three from the wing with 20 seconds left to give the Spartans a 25-18 advantage at the break.

Colby-Sawyer started the second strong and used a 7-4 run to close within four on a pair of Salvo baskets for a 29-25 contest with 13:24 remaining. The teams traded baskets before Sabo drilled a triple for the 34-27 advantage. Desroches then jumped a passing lane took it in for the fastbreak layup. Just 12 seconds later Beatty stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to push Castleton lead to 38-27 with 10:51 left. Cahill stemmed the run a minute later, but eight more points including a pair of triples from Desroches extended it to 46-29 at 7:14. The Chargers wouldn't get any closer than 15 again as the Spartans pushed their lead to 21 points in the final five minutes before finishing with the 15-point victory.