PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The third-seeded Castleton University women's basketball team saw its season come to a close Thursday night, falling to the No. 2 seed, Rhode Island College, by a final score of 62-47 in the Little East Conference Tournament Semifinals.

Castleton wraps up the 2019-20 season with an overall record of 16-11 for its 18th consecutive winning season. The Spartans went 10-6 in Little East action this season to earn the No. 3 seed in the tournament, where they defeated No. 6 Keene State in the quarterfinals, 54-46. Rhode Island College advances to the LEC Championship game and will face the winner of the other semifinal matchup, Eastern Connecticut State vs. UMass Boston, on Sunday.

The Spartans struggled from the field early, making just 2-of-10 from the field in the opening 10 minutes. That led to a 36.6 percent final mark for the Spartans, who finished the day 15-of-41 from the field. Castleton also hit just 2-of-11 from deep in the game, but was impressive as it knocked down 15-of-18 at the free-throw line. The Anchorwomen got off to a quick start and carried it throughout the night, shooting 42.1 percent (24-of-57) as a team with a 46.2 percent (6-of-13) mark from three-point range. The rebounding battle was nearly even, with RIC holding a 32-31 edge, but the Anchorwomen outscored Castleton 30-22 in the paint and 13-7 on second-chance opportunities. Castleton also had 13 turnovers to the Anchorwomen's eight.

Brooke Raiche led Castleton with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Emilee Bose joined her in double figures with 10 points. Bose also had four rebounds in her final game for Castleton. Kylie Wright added six points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench, while Alexis Quenneville had five points and four rebounds. Olivia Perry also added five points in just seven minutes of action for Castleton.

Sophia Guerrier and Maci Dorantes tied for a game-high 13 points, with Dorantes knocking down 5-of-8 from the field while Guerrier was 5-of-11. Guerrier also had six rebounds, six assists and three steals for RIC. Jordyn Gauvin was one of three Anchorwomen to finish with eight points on the night, adding eight assists and five rebounds to her line. Brooke Young and Willcia McBorrough joined Gauvin with eight points, as McBorrough hauled in six rebounds as well.

The Anchorwomen got on the board first on a runner by Gauvin, but Bose answered for Castleton with a three on the other end of the floor. The bucket by Bose was Castleton's only field goal for more than seven minutes, when Perry broke the drought with a layup that made it 12-5 in favor of RIC. Each side tacked on two more points apiece in the final minutes as the Anchorwomen led 14-7 after one quarter.

The second quarter saw the Spartan offense bounce back, but Rhode Island College maintained its offensive pressure to keep Castleton at a distance. The Spartans scored the first four points of the frame to pull within three, 14-11, but RIC answered with four straight points to push the lead back to seven points—18-11. Neither side put together a lengthy run the remainder of the half, but a late bucket by Guerrier sent the Anchorwomen to the locker room leading by eight, 33-25.

The lead hit 10 immediately out of the break, as Fataya Larry dropped in a layup on the opening possession for RIC. The Anchorwomen pushed the edge to 11 points, its largest lead to that point, with 7:24 to play in the third when Young buried a triple to make it 40-29. The lead remained at 11 points—47-36—with 2:34 to play in the third, but Castleton closed the gap back to nine points in the final two minutes as Wright and Bose added buckets on each side of a Gauvin layup to send the game to the final quarter with Castleton trailing 49-40.

Rhode Island College pulled away for good in the final frame, scoring the first seven points of the quarter to take a commanding lead, 56-40. The two sides traded scores from that point on as Castleton outscored RIC by just a 7-6 margin over the final 4:25 of action with the game out of reach.

The Spartans are slated to return 11 players for next season, including a pair of double-digit scorers in Raiche and Elise Magro.  Castleton's Little East Conference opener next season is slated for December 2, 2020, at Keene State. The Spartans are 5-0 against the Owls since joining the LEC a season ago, including the quarterfinal victory Tuesday evening.