TROY, N.Y. – The Castleton University women's basketball team scored a last-second victory on Friday afternoon, claiming a 55-53 win on an Elise Magro layup with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at East Campus Arena.
 
With just over a minute remaining in the game, Luna Perry-St. Peter came up with a key block and rebound on the defensive end, giving Castleton possession. The Spartans had two chances on offense to break the tie but came up empty, giving RPI possession late in the game. RPI had an open cut to the basket on an out-of-bounds play following a timeout, but the pass was too strong and the Spartans regained possession with nine seconds to play. A Spartan timeout advanced the ball, giving Castleton one final look to win the game. Magro caught the inbound pass on the perimeter and drove the left side before laying the ball in for the victory.
 
The Spartans improve to 8-3 overall with the victory while RPI falls to 5-5. Castleton closed the game on an 8-0 run, erasing a six-point deficit with less than three minutes to play. The Spartans trailed by as many as 12 points in the final quarter before beginning their comeback with a 10-0 run to pull within two points, 47-45. RPI pushed the gap back to four points with a pair of free throws before Liz Bailey hit a jumper to halve it back to two points. Four unanswered free throws by RPI made it a six-point game, 53-47, leading to Castleton's 8-0 run to end the game. Bailey made a jumper and later connected on a free throw to make it 53-50. Gwyn Tatton made a free throw as well before Bailey drained two more from the charity stripe to level the score at 53-53. Magro capped the scoring with her late layup.
 
Magro led all players with 16 points while Kelly Vuz added 15 and Bailey had 13. Bailey also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Magro and Vuz had three steals apiece while Perry-St. Peter had two blocks and five rebounds.
 
RPI received 12 points from Heather Converse and eight each from Nicole DaPra and Lolo Reynolds. Converse had a game-high 14 rebounds and DaPra added nine.
 
Castleton shot 27.9 percent as a team (19-of-68) and made just two threes in the game, but RPI struggled as well, hitting only 31.0 percent (18-of-58) with four threes. Castleton made 15 free throws and RPI had 13. The biggest difference in the game came on turnovers, with RPI committing 22 turnovers to Castleton's nine, leading to a 14-5 edge in points off turnovers for Castleton.
 
RPI controlled play in the first quarter, leading 14-5 after 10 minutes before Castleton stormed back in the second to make it 26-25 RPI at halftime. The Engineers pulled away again in the third quarter to lead 43-35 with 10 minutes to play, but Castleton overcame the deficit en route to victory.
 
The Spartans return to action Wednesday night at 5 p.m. when they host UMass Boston in Little East Conference play at Glenbrook Gym.