NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team opened its season with an emphatic victory on Friday night, defeating Norwich University by a final score of 77-53.
The Spartans (1-0) trailed the Cadets (0-1) by a score of 26-24 at halftime, but exploded out of the locker room with a 17-0 run to take a commanding lead, 41-26. The run covered more than five minutes of play, giving the Spartans a 15-point cushion. As a team, Castleton shot 38.6 percent from the floor and held Norwich to 32.8 percent. Castleton made 7-of-24 threes—five of which came after halftime—and 16-of-25 free throws. Norwich connected on 6-of-27 from three and 7-of-12 at the line. Castleton narrowly won the rebound battle, 40-39, and committed only nine turnovers to Norwich's 22, converting those Cadet miscues into 21 points.
The Spartans were led by 14 points each from
Elise Magro and
Ryleigh Coloutti, while
Jordan Levesque and
Gwyn Tatton hit double digits as well with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Magro made 6-of-13 from the floor, dished out six assists and hauled in six rebounds in addition to five steals. Coloutti drained a trio of three pointers in her debut, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals. Levesque was 5-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three for her 13 points, adding four boards on the night. Tatton added six rebounds to her 11 points. She was 7-of-8 from the line.
Olivia Perry led Castleton with eight rebounds and added seven points herself.
Norwich's Silas Bernier led all players with 20, and also had six rebounds and seven turnovers. Hannah Stitely added 11 points and Haley Brewster seven. Brewster was sent to the bench for most of the second half after picking up her fourth foul shortly after halftime, but finished as the game's leading rebounder with 13 boards.
Norwich got off to a quicker start than Castleton, taking a 7-1 lead through four-plus minutes as the Spartans looked to find their footing. Castleton rattled off five straight points from there, however, making it a one-point game, 7-6. The two sides traded leads back-and-forth before Castleton settled into a 14-11 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
The lead was erased quickly as back-to-back threes by Norwich put the Cadets on top 17-15, but Castleton responded with four straight points to regain a 21-17 edge. A Cadet three on the other end made it 21-20, before Norwich regained the lead on a layup, 22-21. The two sides continued to trade blows until halftime, with Norwich heading to the locker room up 26-24.
Castleton came out on a tear in the third quarter, scoring the first 17 points of the frame. Two layups and a jumper made it a 30-26 lead for Castleton, before Coloutti drained a triple to push the lead to 33-26. A layup by Magro and a three by Levesque extended the gap to double digits for the first time, 38-26, and Levesque then capped the run with another three to make it 41-26 before Nowich stopped the bleeding. Castleton continued to pull away in the third quarter, taking a 20-point lead to the final 10 minutes, 53-33.
Castleton took its largest lead of the game—26 points—with 3:40 to play, as six straight points led to a 70-44 edge for the Spartans, capped by two free throws by Perry. Norwich whittled two points off the final lead with a late layup, but Castleton cruised to a 77-53 victory when the final horn sounded.
The Spartans are home on Monday night against Smith, a team that was ranked No. 22 in the nation at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season—the last time the WBCA Division III Coaches Poll was conducted.
