WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Castleton University women's basketball team traveled to Little East Conference foe Eastern Connecticut with a short bench on Monday night and gave the Warriors a tight battle for a majority of the contest before coming up short in the end, 66-51.
 
The Spartans (9-7, 2-5 LEC) trailed by just six points after three quarters, but the Warriors (11-8, 8-2) outscored 17-8 in the final 10 minutes as the fatigue set in for the Spartans. Castleton shot 30.5 percent from the floor (18-of-59) and 30.8 percent from three (8-of-26), while Eastern shot 44.3 percent from the field (27-of-61) and 25.0 percent from three (5-of-20). Both teams made seven free throws. The Warriors won the battle on the glass 43-33, and outscored Castleton 30-12 in the paint.
 
Ryleigh Coloutti, fresh off her fourth LEC Rookie of the Week award, poured in 20 points to lead the Spartan offense, knocking down 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. She also had nine rebounds on the night, coming up just shy of a double-double. Kelly Vuz added 16 points and six boards, while Elise Magro chipped in 10 points and four steals.
 
Anna Barry led Eastern with 22 points and 16 boards, followed by Julie Keckler with 20 points and three assists. Danielle O'Brien had nine points and five rebounds for the Warriors.
 
The Spartans got off to a quick start in the contest, as Magro made a layup and Coloutti knocked down a three in the opening minute to put Castleton on top 5-0. After an Eastern free throw by Barry, Coloutti and Vuz knocked down back-to-back triples to put Castleton up 11-1 nearing the midway mark of the first quarter. With the Spartans leading by five late in the quarter, Coloutti hit another three to push the lead to 17-9 after one quarter, with all nine Eastern Connecticut points coming from Barry.
 
Keckler kicked off the second quarter with a three for the Warriors, but Vuz responded with a three of her own for the Spartans to make it 20-12. The lead was erased and Eastern took its first advantage in the game after a 9-0 run that spanned two-plus minutes. Keckler's second three of the quarter capped the run with the Warriors ahead by one, 21-20. Vuz hit another triple to break the streak and put Castleton back on top by two, but the lead was short-lived as Eastern answered on the other end to tie the game and kick off yet another nine-point run, this one ending with Eastern ahead 30-23. Coloutti buried her fourth three of the half to snap the skid for Castleton, and the two sides traded buckets inside the final minute to send the teams to the locker room with ECSU ahead 32-28.
 
Castleton got the first points of the second half when Olivia Perry grabbed an offensive board and laid it in. Two straight threes by the Warriors pushed their lead to eight points, 38-30, but an eight-point run by Castleton leveled the game at 38-38. The run began with four straight points from Vuz, before Coloutti ended it with four points of her own. The Spartans regained the lead one minute later when Magro hit a pair of free throws for a 40-39 edge. Keckler gave the Warriors the lead once more, but Magro answered with a pull-up jumper to lift the Spartans on top for the time being, 42-41. The Warriors responded with a layup that jump-started an 8-1 run to end the quarter, with four points apiece from Keckler and Barry.
 
The Warriors continued their run into the fourth quarter, scoring six consecutive points to open the frame and extend the lead to 55-33. A three from Vuz and a free-throw from Coloutti brought the deficit back to single digits for the Spartans, but six straight points by Eastern put the game out of reach, 61-47, with less than four minutes to play. Magro and Coloutti scored points surrounding a handful of ECSU free throws, fiving the game its final tally of 66-51.
 
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday night at Plymouth State. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.