CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team was unable to hold off UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon, falling 68-54 to the Corsairs despite an early lead in the contest.

Both teams now sit at 10-8 overall and 5-4 in LEC play following the contest. UMass Dartmouth outshot Castleton 41.4 percent (24-of-58) to 32.3 percent (20-of-62) in the game, while the Corsairs knocked down seven threes to Castleton's six. UMass Dartmouth hit 81.3 percent from the free throw line (13-of-16), while Castleton managed just 8-of-14 (57.1 percent). The rebounding battle was nearly equal, with UMass Dartmouth holding a 41-40 edge, and the Corsairs committed 22 turnovers to Castleton's 24.

Brooke Raiche tied for a game-high with 14 points in addition to eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Elise Magro joined her in double digits at 12 points, while Jillian Laughlin chipped in a career-high nine points off the bench. Katlyn Toomey led all players with 14 rebounds, while Kylie Wright added six points and six boards off the bench.

Ashley Brown equaled Raiche's 14-point performance, and notched 10 rebounds for a double-double. She finished just 3-of-7 from the field but was 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Shaelyn Carreiro and Lauren Empey had 10 points apiece off the bench for UMass Dartmouth, with Empey added five rebounds and four steals in the game.

Castleton opened the game on a tear, scoring seven unanswered points behind layups from Emilee Bose and Raiche before Magro buried a three. The Corsairs answered with a pair of threes on consecutive possessions to slice the deficit to just one point, 7-6, but Quenneville later hit a three to push the lead back to 12-8. After the two sides traded baskets for a three-plus minute stretch, Bose knocked down a jumper and Laughlin hit a three to stretch the edge back to eight points for Castleton with 2:18 to play in the opening quarter. Laughlin again came through later in the quarter, stealing an inbounds pass and taking it the distance to lay it in just before the first-quarter horn sounded, giving the Spartans a 21-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

Olivia Perry opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws to push the lead to 10, but the lead was short-lived from there as UMass Dartmouth went on an 11-1 run to knot the game at 24-24 just more than three minutes into the quarter. The Corsairs took their first lead with 5:24 remaining, and the two sides traded blows from that point until halftime. After UMass Dartmouth built its lead to four points, Raiche knocked down a pair of free throws before Perry finished down low to knot the game at 28-28. Castleton regained the lead, 30-29, after a Magro layup, but the Corsairs responded with a free throw by Empey to make it 30-30. With less than one minute to play in the half, Raiche again buried a pair of free throws, to put Castleton ahead, 32-30, but Jennifer Driscoll hit a corner three on UMass Dartmouth's final possession of the half to send the game to the break with the visitors on top, 33-32.

The third quarter began much like the second, as UMass Dartmouth raced out to a 40-32 lead just 1:21 into the second half. Magro stopped the bleeding with a jump shot, before Quenneville finished a driving layup of her own to make it a 40-36 game. Castleton drew closer when Raiche buried a three to make it 42-39, but UMass Dartmouth then went on an 8-0 run that was capped by a layup from Kayla McMahon. Raiche hit a three in the final seconds of the quarter, drawing Castleton within eight, 50-42, after three frames.

The Corsairs again pushed their lead to 12 points in the early-going of the fourth quarter, with Sabrina Armstrong finishing a layup to make it 58-46 just past the midway point of the frame. Castleton cut the lead back to eight points with after an old-fashioned three-point play by Magro made it 60-52, but that was as close as Castleton would get the rest of the way as Brown hit six free throws for the Corsairs to add to the visitors' lead down the stretch.

Castleton returns to action Wednesday night at Keene State. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.