BARRE, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling to Northern Vermont University-Johnson at the Barre Auditorium in the Barre Granite Association College Classic.
The Spartans (4-1) shot 27-of-77 from the floor and 4-of-25 from three—both season-high marks for attempts in 2022 to date. Johnson (4-2) made 22-of-54 from the floor and 5-of-11 from three. The Badgers did the most damage at the free-throw line, making 23-of-28 attempts on the day.
Kelly Vuz led the team in scoring with 17 points, while
Elise Magro and
Liz Bailey had 16 points each. Magro added five rebounds and five assists while Bailey had seven boards for Castleton.
Gwyn Tatton grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds with seven points.
Emily Adams added six points and five rebounds off the bench.
Johnson's Paris Atuahene racked up 33 points—16 of which came at the free-throw line—to pair with 11 rebounds and five assists. Emma Buonanno had 23 points in 34 minutes off the bench. Gabriella Wardwell also had 11 rebounds for the Badgers.
Castleton ran out to an 8-2 lead early in the game after Tatton hit a three and Vuz nailed a pair of free throws, but Johnson quickly closed the gap when Buonanno scored seven points in a two-minute span to make it 10-10. Castleton ended the first quarter with a 5-1 run to take a 15-11 lead to the second.
Tatton hit a jumper to make it 17-11 but Johnson rattled off five in a row from there to make it a one-point game once again. After Vuz and Bailey added baskets to extend the lead back to five, the two sides traded scores before Johnson went on a 7-2 run to tie the score at 27-27 late in the quarter. The score was still tied with less than a minute to play before halftime when Devyn Thompson hit a pair of free throws for the Badgers to give Johnson a 31-29 edge at the break.
Castleton scored the first five points out of the break to take a 34-31 lead, but Johnson hung tough when Hattie Moriarty hit a three to make it 36-36. The lead went back-and-forth the rest of the quarter, ending in Castleton's favor—47-46—after a last-second layup by Vuz.
Castleton grew its lead to five points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when Bailey and Adams made consecutive layups for a 53-48 edge. Johnson cut into the lead with a jumper of its own before Vuz connected from three-point land to make it 56-50. Johnson scored the next five points to make it a one-point game, 56-55, before Magro converted a three-point play. A jumper by Magro two possessions later made it 61-55 with 4:23 to play.
Johnson tied the game at 63-63 less than two minutes later when Atuahene hit a pair of free throws followed by a three-point play immediately after. The run was part of 10 consecutive points by Atuahene alone, a stretch that concluded with Johnson leading 68-63 before Bounanno got involved with two free throws of her own to push the Johnson lead to 70-63 with 31 seconds left. Bailey hit a jumper to make it a five-point game, but two more free throws by Atuahene closed the game for the Badgers' victory.
Castleton returns to action Tuesday at Middlebury for a non-conference contest at 5 p.m.
