CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team wrapped up its home slate for the 2021 season in emphatic fashion Friday night, defeating in-state rival Norwich by a final score of 73-54 at Glenbrook Gym.
Emilee Bose had a career night racking up 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the floor. The senior also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds and added a pair of blocks. Elise Magro had a strong showing for the Spartans as well, finishing with 17 points and a career-high nine assists. Brooke Raiche reached double digits in the scoring column with 11 points, while also adding five rebounds and three assists. In total, eight Spartans contributed points in the victory.
Norwich received a solid outing from Caileigh Travers, as the senior netted 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for a double-double. Emily Schromm led the Cadets in scoring with 15 points, with Kailynne Frederick adding 11 points and seven rebounds. Castleton held Norwich's leading scorer entering the game—Riley Bennett—to just seven points on the night.
Castleton outshot Norwich 50.9 percent (29-of-57) to 33.3 percent (19-of-57), though the Cadets made 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from three to Castleton's 5-of-16 (31.3 percent). The Cadets held a slight edge on the glass, 39-32, but Norwich turned the ball over 18 times to Castleton's seven.
The two sides went back-and-forth in the opening minutes of the game, as the score sat at 11-10 in favor of Norwich at the midway mark of the first quarter. The Cadet lead stretched to four points after a three by Julia Vigorito, but Castleton answered with a three from Bose on the opposite end of the floor. The two teams traded jump shots to make it 16-15 Cadets, but a free throw and a later three by Norwich put the visitors ahead by five—20-15—with less than one minute remaining in the first. Bose cut the lead back to three with a late layup, but a three from Schromm in the final seconds of the quarter gave Norwich a 23-17 edge after 10 minutes.
The lead grew to eight points in the opening moments of the second quarter, when Travers finished off a layup, but Castleton was jump-started by a layup from Bose on the ensuing possession. The layup began a 13-2 run for the Spartans that spanned the final nine-plus minutes of the quarter. Castleton held Norwich to just four points on 2-of-13 shooting in the second, giving Castleton a 30-27 lead at the half.
The Spartans blew the game open in the third quarter, opening the half on a 6-0 run. A later 10-2 run extended the Castleton lead to 12 points—46-34—when Bose knocked down another jumper on an assist from Magro with 2:44 to play in the frame. Castleton continued to grow its lead right down to the final seconds of the quarter, as Magro crossed up a defender and buried a last-second three to give the Spartans a 55-37 edge heading to the final 10 minutes.
The fourth quarter was more evenly-matched, with Castleton outscoring Norwich 18-17, though Castleton took advantage of a 10-0 run to push its lead to a game-high 26 points—70-44—with 4:40 to play. Norwich then outscored Castleton 10-3 to close the game, but the Spartan lead was too much as Castleton held on for the 73-54 victory.
Castleton closes the season at Norwich next Wednesday night at 6 p.m.
