CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team opened the season with an emphatic victory, besting in-state rival Norwich by a final score of 69-45 in front of the home crowd at Glenbrook Gym.
Three Spartans hit double figures scoring, with
Kelly Vuz racking up 17 points,
Elise Magro adding 16 points and
Liz Bailey tallying 14 points. Bailey had a double-double for the Spartans, grabbing 11 rebounds as well. Magro dished out six assists on the night and Vuz had four steals.
Gwyn Tatton was solid down low for Castleton with nine points and nine rebounds, while
Emily Adams added six points and six boards in her collegiate debut.
Felicia Poirier had four points and five rebounds, with
Delaney Whitehead adding three points and four assists.
Norwich was a one-woman show, with Haley Brewster amassing 25 points and 14 rebounds while Skylar Burzynski was the next-leading scorer with just eight points. Brittany Graham had seven rebounds for the Cadets.
The Spartans shot 41.4 percent from the field, knocking down 29-of-70 field goal attempts. Castleton also hit 7-of-19 threes. Norwich shot just 22.2 percent from the floor, making 14-of-63 attempts on the night. The Cadets were slightly better from three, hitting 6-of-20 (30.0 percent) from long range. Castleton won the rebounding battle 54-45 and grabbed 13 offensive boards. Norwich committed 15 turnovers to Castleton's 12, while Castleton outscored Norwich 11-7 off those miscues.
Castleton ran out to an early lead and never looked back, never trailing in the contest. Vuz had the first five points of the night with a layup and a triple before Tatton hit a jumper and made the ensuing free throw after being fouled to give Castleton an 8-0 edge to start the night. Two more threes by Vuz and a pair of Magro jumpers pushed Castleton's lead to 18-5 late in the first quarter. A three by Adams made it 21-7 and Magro closed the scoring in the frame with a late jumper to make it 23-10 after 10 minutes.
Norwich battled closer in the second quarter, as both defenses settled in. Each side had only scored four points in the first five minutes of the frame before Tatton hit a pair of free throws for Castleton. A three by Brewster and two free throws from Burzynski made it a 29-19 game late in the first half, but Castleton closed on a 6-3 run thanks to two buckets from Magro and one from Tatton to take a 35-22 lead into the break.
Castleton extended its lead to 48-24 out of the locker room, opening the third quarter on a 13-2 run that covered the first seven-plus minutes of the quarter. Norwich then scored six unanswered before Bailey dropped in a late layup on a nice pass from Magro to give Castleton a 50-30 lead going to the final frame.
The two teams traded jumpers to open the fourth quarter before the post game went to work for Castleton with Bailey and Tatton combining for six straight points. After four points by the Cadets, Castleton rattled off nine unanswered, starting with a Whitehead triple before Magro, Poirier and Adams added baskets to give Castleton a game-high 31-point lead. The Cadets scored nine in a row from there to close the gap to 67-45, but Poirier logged a late steal and score to cap the game at 69-45 in favor of the Spartans.
The win extends Castleton's streak to seven in a row over Norwich. Castleton is back in action this weekend with the Spartan Classic. Tip-off is at 5 p.m. Saturday against Thomas College.
