CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's basketball team picked up its second win in as many games on Saturday afternoon, downing Western Connecticut State University 68-52 in Little East Conference action at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans (6-4, 1-1 LEC) never trailed in the contest, getting off to a strong start and never looking back. The team shot 40.8 percent from the floor and 10-of-13 at the free throw line. WestConn (1-8, 0-3 LEC) hit 25.6 percent from the field and made just 2-of-19 from three-point range. The Wolves controlled the glass 58-50, but managed only 10 second-chance points on 23 offensive rebounds. The Spartans turned 14 WestConn turnovers into 13 points.
Elise Magro racked up 27 points on 13-of-26 shooting and hauled in 10 rebounds for a double-double. She also had four steals and two assists.
Liz Bailey collected 16 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double of her own and blocked three shots on defense.
Kathryn Moore had six points and eight rebounds while
Maggie McKearin added five points and
Stasia Epler,
Emily Adams and
Schuylar Nolan had four each.
The Wolves were led by 15 points from Gabrielle Franks and 13 from Nicole Peralta. Nicole Vivian had a game-high 14 rebounds and Alyssa Virtue added 11 boards.
VTSU Castleton got off to a hot start, with Magro making each of her first four shot attempts of the game to help push the Spartans ahead 14-4 through the first four minutes. She added two more buckets back-to-back later in the frame to make it 18-9. Epler and Bailey then posted four straight points for Castleton after a Wolves jumper found the bottom of the bucket, extending the edge to 22-11. Two free throws by McKearin and a layup by Adams put the Spartans ahead 26-13 after 10 minutes.
After a slow start to the second by both sides, Adams hit a pull-up jumper two minutes into the frame. Bailey, Moore and Magro then connected on layups for a 6-0 run to go ahead 34-15—Castleton's largest lead of the day. The Wolves found some rhythm on offense for a two-minute stretch, going on an 11-2 run to cut the Spartans' lead to 36-26. Castleton scored the last four points of the quarter to carry a 40-26 lead into halftime.
Neither side put together a sustained run in the third quarter, with Castleton maintaining its large lead for much of the frame. The Spartans gained two points in the frame, outscoring the Wolves 15-13. The final quarter was dead even, with the two sides going back-and-forth once more. Neither side was able to score more than four unanswered points over the final 10 minutes as the game went final at 68-52.
The Spartans break for the holidays, but return to action on December 30 when they host RPI in Glenbrook Gym at 1 p.m.
