CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team picked up a dominant Little East Conference victory on Monday afternoon, rolling to a 68-45 win at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans improve to 7-4 overall and 1-2 in LEC play, while WestConn falls to 6-6 overall an 1-2 in the LEC following its fourth straight loss. The Spartans shot 40.0 percent as a team on the day, knocking down 28-of-70, and made a season-best 52.4 percent of their threes as they buried 11-of-21 from long range. WestConn shot 28.6 percent as a team and 17.6 percent from long range, making 18-of-63 overall and only 3-of-17 from deep. The Spartans held a 47-42 edge on the glass and turned it over only 13 times to WestConn's 16. Castleton turned the WestConn mistakes into 13 points, while WestConn scored just six points off Spartan turnovers.
Kelly Vuz led all players with 17 points in the contest and added seven rebounds and six assists to her line.
Ryleigh Coloutti had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the game, and
Olivia Perry and
Liz Bailey added 10 points apiece. Perry also had six rebounds and Bailey five.
Gwyn Tatton hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds for the Spartans.
Ashley Rilley scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds for WestConn, while Gabrielle Franks had seven points, five boards and four blocks. Julia Misner and Hannah Maghini had six points each. Katelyn Fanning led WestConn with nine rebounds.
The Spartans controlled play from the opening whistle, leading 9-0 before WestConn got on the board over four minutes into the game. The lead continued to grow over the final six minutes of the quarter as Castleton used a second 9-0 run to take a 23-6 lead with 1:15 left in the opening frame. WestConn scored the final three points of the quarter, but Castleton led 23-9 after 10 minutes of play.
Neither team put together a lengthy run in the second quarter, but Castleton steadily increased its lead throughout. A seven-point run was the longest of the quarter for the Spartans, putting them ahead 35-15. Both sides traded buckets into the halftime break from there, with Castleton leading 40-20 after one half of action.
The lead extended to 27 points early in the third quarter when Coloutti buried a three and Vuz backed it up with a jumper to make it 51-24 Castleton. WestConn answered back with a 7-0 run of its own, bringing the lead back to 20 points, but Castleton inched forward yet again to lead 56-33 after three quarters of action.
Castleton pushed the lead to a game-high 30 points after Bailey capped a 7-0 run with a layup for the Spartans. WestConn whittled the gap back to 23 points with a 7-0 run of its own. Perry finished the scoring for Castleton with a layup, while Rilley sank a pair of free throws to cap the scoring in the game, 68-45.
The Spartans return to the court Wednesday night at UMass Boston for a Little East Conference contest. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. No spectators are allowed at the event per UMass Boston policy, though a live stream and live statistics will be available to follow at CastletonSports.com.
