CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University women's basketball team got back in the win column on Monday night, defeating Plymouth State University in Little East Conference action at Glenbrook Gym, 80-49.
 
The Spartans (11-8, 4-6 LEC) shot 38.9 percent from the floor, hitting 28-of-72 on the night while making six threes. The Panthers (1-15, 0-11 LEC) were just 13-of-60 from the field (21.7 percent) and made only one shot from beyond the arc. Plymouth made 22-of-30 at the free-throw line while Castleton hit 18-of-21 at the stripe. Castleton won the rebounding battle 51-44. Castleton outscored Plymouth 18-6 in points off turnovers as the Panthers committed 22 turnovers to Castleton's 12.
 
Liz Bailey led the way for Castleton with a career day, racking up 24 points and 15 boards. Both totals set new career-best marks for the rookie in just 22 minutes of action. Kelly Vuz posted 15 points to go with five steals, four rebounds and three assists, while Elise Magro dropped in 12 points with six boards and six assists. Magro also had four steals. Gwyn Tatton rounded out Castleton's double-digit scorers with 10 points and eight rebounds. Olivia Perry just missed out on double digits, scoring nine points with eight boards.
 
Plymouth was led by 13 points and six rebounds from Lauren Keller, while Jalen Cook added 11 points and five rebounds. Alessia Salzillo had 10 points for the Panthers and Natalie Harris five.
 
The Spartans opened the game with a nine-point run, capped by a triple from Vuz. Plymouth got on the board after more than three minutes without a point, but Castleton tacked on five more points to push the lead to 14-2 with four minutes to go in the first quarter. The Panthers closed the gap slightly on Castleton in the waning minutes, as Keller hit a three for Plymouth as time expired to make it 19-10 Spartans after 10 minutes.
 
Castleton scored five straight points out of the quarter break, pushing the lead to 24-10 in the first two minutes of the frame. A trio of free throws by the Panthers broke up the run, but Castleton again strung together a lengthy stretch of outscoring Plymouth with a 13-0 run. The run featured six free throws as the Panthers got in early foul trouble in the second quarter. The two sides played evenly over the final two minutes of the half to send Castleton to the locker room leading 39-16.
 
The Spartans continued to build their lead in the third quarter, using an eight-point burst in the middle of the frame to stretch the lead to 60-24. The two sides traded baskets outside of that run in the frame, as Castleton outscored the Panthers 27-17 in the third quarter alone. It was the highest-scoring segment for both teams in the game.
 
Plymouth State used a seven-point run in the fourth quarter that lasted just under two minutes to cut the Castleton lead back to 28 points, but the Spartans refused to let the Panthers get any closer the rest of the way as Castleton closed out the 80-49 victory.
 
Castleton returns to the court Wednesday night at 5 p.m. against UMass Boston at home.