CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team improved its record at home to 6-2 with a thrilling 68-63 overtime victory against Rhode Island College at Glenbrook Gym in Little East Conference action.

Rhode Island College scored the first four points of the overtime period, but Castleton took over from there, scoring the final nine points of the game and holding the Anchorwomen scoreless over the final 3:34 of play. The key bucket in overtime came from Elise Magro, as the rookie knocked down an elbow jumper with 1:04 to put Castleton on top for good, 65-63. Alexis Quenneville knocked down a trio of free throws from there to cap the victory for Castleton, 68-63.

The Spartans are now 12-8 on the season and 7-4 in LEC action, while the loss was just Rhode Island College's fourth all season and third in LEC play. The Anchorwomen, who entered Saturday as the No. 2 team in the LEC, sit at 16-4 overall and 8-3 with the loss. Rhode Island College outshot Castleton 45.3 percent (24-of-53) to 37.5 percent (24-of-64). The Spartans hit 6-of-12 from three to finish at 50.0 percent, but the Anchorwomen countered with 10 threes of their own for a 34.5 percent mark from long range. A large factor in the outcome came at the free throw line, with Castleton knocking down 14-of-18 at the line and RIC hitting 5-of-8. The Anchorwomen won the rebounding battle 41-33, but Castleton dominated the turnover battle with just seven turnovers to RIC's 23. The Spartans converted those turnovers into 23 points while RIC managed just five points off Spartan miscues.

Brooke Raiche knocked down 8-of-20 from the field for a game-high 23 points in addition to seven rebounds, while Quenneville finished the day with 20 points—all of which came after halftime. Quenneville was 5-of-7 from three. Magro added 16 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals in the victory, while Kylie Wright chipped in five points, five rebounds and four assists.

Antonia Corsinetti led the Anchorwomen with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, while Sophia Guerrier added 12 points on 5-of-8 from the field. Maci Dorantes rounded out the RIC double-digit scorers with 10 points. Fataya Larry led all players with 15 rebounds in the contest, and Jordyn Gauvin chipped in eight points and four assists. Gauvin also hit the game-tying shot at the buzzer to force overtime.

Castleton got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter, as Rhode Island College ran out to a 12-1 lead in the opening five minutes. Castleton bounced back with four straight points to make it 12-5, but the Anchorwomen held firm and ended the quarter with a 17-7 advantage.

Castleton worked the lead down slowly in the second quarter, beginning the frame on a 9-3 run, capped by a jumper from Magro, to make it a 20-16 game with 6:51 left in the half. A quick, 5-0 run by the Anchorwomen pushed the lead back to nine points with 5:08 to play in the half. The lead hit double digits once more at 30-20 after a three by Corsinetti, but Castleton narrowed the gap back to nine at the half after free throws by Wright and Raiche. Raiche and Magro accounted for nearly all of Castleton's first-half scoring, as the duo combined for 22 of Castleton's 23 first-half points.

The Spartans came out of the locker room on a mission, narrowing the lead to just three points less than four minutes into the third quarter after Quenneville hit a pair of free throws. Rhode Island College stood firm, however, extending its lead to eight points once more—41-33—after a layup from Guerrier, but Castleton responded with a 7-0 run to make it a one-point game with less than three minutes left in the frame. After a Morantes jumper put the lead back at three, Raiche knocked down two free throws to bring the Spartans within one, 43-42, heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Magro gave Castleton its first lead of the game on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, putting the Spartans ahead 44-43 with a jumper. The two sides traded the lead back-and-forth the remainder of the quarter, as the quarter saw five lead changes and five ties. Quenneville was on fire for the Spartans in the final regulation frame, hitting four threes in the final frame—none bigger than the one with just eight seconds left that gave Castleton a 59-56 lead. After the Anchorwomen called timeout and advanced the ball, RIC had less than five seconds to tie the game. Gauvin inbounded the ball before getting it back from a teammate and carried it to the left wing before letting go a contested, fade-away three from well beyond the arc. The ball found the bottom of the net as the horn sounded, knotting the game at 59-59 and forcing overtime.

Guerrier hit back-to-back jump shots for the Anchorwomen, giving Rhode Island College a 63-59 lead just 90 seconds into overtime. Raiche answered with back-to-back layups for the Spartans to make it 63-all, before Magro knocked down a jumper with the shot clock running down to give Castleton a 65-63 lead it would not relinquish. After an Anchorwomen turnover, Castleton added to its lead when Quenneville was fouled near the end of the shot clock and knocked down 1-of-2 at the line. Castleton forced another turnover with just four seconds remaining when Magro tied up Gauvin to give the jump-ball possession to Castleton. Quenneville was fouled once more with less than one second on the clock and knocked down both free throws to seal the victory, 68-63.

Castleton returns to action next Saturday at Western Connecticut State with a 1 p.m. tip-off.