PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's basketball team went head-to-head with one of the best teams in the nation on Saturday, opening Little East Conference play with a tough loss to No. 5 Rhode Island College, 77-50.
 
Liz Bailey had once of her best outings of the season offensively, scoring 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. She also had five rebounds and two blocks. Stasia Epler and Elise Magro had eight points each and Emily Adams added six points. The Spartans (4-4, 0-1 LEC) were held to 32.8 percent shooting as a team and attempted only eight free throws in the loss.
 
RIC (7-0, 1-0 LEC) was led by 18 points from Angelina Nardolillo, who was an efficient 7-of-11 from the field with 12 rebounds to clock a double-double. Sophia Guerrier added 13 points, Izabelle Booth had 12 and Jeniyah Jones had 11 points for the Anchorwomen. RIC shot 45.7 percent in the game and made seven threes.
 
The nationally-ranked Anchorwomen raced out to a 9-2 lead thanks to a 9-0 run after Bailey scored the game's opening tally. An eight-point run later in the frame pushed RIC's edge to 20-7. Adams killed the streak with a bucket of her own, but the Anchorwomen led 24-11 after 10 minutes.
 
The second and third quarters saw RIC extend its lead further, but the Spartans battled hard and outscored the Anchorwomen 14-10 in the final quarter. A 5-0 run that saw points from Adams, Arianna Coombs and Magro closed the gap slightly, and the Spartans closed out the afternoon on a 7-2 run.
 
VTSU Castleton is back in action Wednesday night against in-state for VTSU Lyndon with a 6 p.m. tip at Stannard Gymnasium in Lyndonville.