BOSTON, Mass. – For the second time this season, the Castleton University women's basketball team needed overtime to top UMass Boston, downing the Beacons in double-overtime, 76-67.
 
Elise Magro and Liz Bailey had massive games for the Spartans, with Magro amassing a career-high 30 points and Bailey dropping a career-best 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting. 26 of Magro's points came after halftime, with 12 of them coming in the second overtime period.  
 
Trailing by two with 25 seconds to play in regulation, Castleton (15-7, 8-5 LEC) called timeout to draw up a play for the game-tying basket. The ball ended up in Magro's hands at the perimeter, with the guard driving and hitting a left-handed floater to knot the score at 56-56. After a Beacon timeout gave UMass Boston (12-11, 5-8 LEC) a chance to advance, the Beacons had a look at the final shot of regulation, but a key block by Felicia Poirier kept the score tied to force overtime.
 
UMass Boston scored the first four points of overtime on a three and a free throw, but Kelly Vuz hit a clutch three for Castleton to make it a one-point game, 60-59. A pair of free throws by Magro put Castleton ahead by a point, 61-60, with 1:23 to play in overtime. Meg Dixon hit 1-of-2 at the other end for UMass Boston to tie the score, giving Castleton a chance to win the game with less than 30 seconds remaining. Magro made a strong drive to the hoop, but her last-second shot caromed off the rim, sending the game to a second overtime.
 
Vuz hit an old-fashioned three-point play for the Spartans to start the second overtime, and steal on the other end for Vuz led to another Magro layup and a five-point lead, 66-61. Magro then notched a steal of her own and took it down for a layup and a seven-point edge just two minutes into the period. Castleton kept UMass Boston off the board for more than 3:30 in the final overtime frame, cementing its lead down the stretch. Magro hit her final five free throws of the night to secure the victory.
 
Magro's 30 points are the most by a Spartan this season, and the most since Brooke Raiche had 31 points in a game in November of 2018. She also had seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Bailey's 11-of-12 shooting is one of the best single-game performances in the nation this season, with only 15 players shooting 91.7 percent or better in a single game prior to Wednesday with a minimum of 10 field goals made. Bailey added seven rebounds. Vuz finished the night with 13 points and three steals, while Emily Adams made an impact on defense with 12 rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
 
Meg Dixon was the only Beacon in double figures with 24 points, followed by Sunny Green and Tatiannah Fevry with nine points each. Dixon also had a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
Castleton shot 39.1 percent from the floor (27-of-69) while making just two threes, while UMass Boston hit 32.4 percent overall (23-of-71) with eight threes. Both sides shot a plethora of free throws, with Castleton making 20-of-35 and UMass Boston hitting 13-of-20. The Beacons had a 49-47 edge in rebounds, but Castleton had a 12-5 edge in second-chance scoring.
 
Castleton got off to a fast start, scoring the first six points of the game and keeping the Beacons off the board for nearly five minutes. Five different Spartans scored in the first quarter, helping Castleton to a 15-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
The lead grew even more in the early moments of the second quarter, with Bailey scoring eight points in the first four minutes of the frame to put Castleton up 23-12. A three by Dixon made it 23-15, and after Bailey hit a pair of free throws, Dixon and Green buried consecutive threes to make it a four-point game, 25-21. After play went back-and-forth for a few minutes, UMass Boston closed the half on an 8-2 run to tie the score at the break, 31-31.
 
Castleton came out of the locker room firing, outscoring UMass Boston 8-2 over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter to rebuild its lead, 39-33. The Beacons worked it back to a four-point game, 41-37, but a 7-0 run that featured a Vuz triple and two Magro layups made it 48-37 Spartans, tying their largest lead of the game. The Beacons closed the gap slightly over the final minutes of the quarter, sending the game to the final 10 minutes with Castleton leading 49-40.
 
The Beacons opened the final period of regulation with an 8-0 run to nearly wipe out Castleton's lead entirely, but Bailey's hook shot stopped the bleeding and set the score at 51-48 Castleton. Dixon hit a layup to make it a one-point game before Alexah Potter's layup gave UMass Boston its first lead of the day with 5:26 to play, 52-51. Bailey hit 1-of-2 at the line to knot the score before both sides went scoreless for two minutes.
 
Bailey broke the scoreless stretch with 2:25 remaining, giving Castleton a 54-52 lead. Dixon tied the score a minute later with a layup, and Castleton's Bailey was called for an offensive foul—her fifth foul—on the other end to send a crucial player to the bench for the Spartans. Kariann Farina gave UMass Boston the lead with 38 seconds left with a layup of her own after the Beacons took over, but Magro's driving floater with 12 seconds left leveled the score again, sending the game to overtime.
 
Both offenses were sluggish in the first overtime, with each side hitting just one field goal—Dixon and Vuz making threes—and two free throws. The second overtime saw more scoring, with Castleton making 3-of-4 field goals and 9-of-15 free throws in the final five minutes to seal the crucial conference victory.
 
The Spartans are back at Glenbrook Gym on Saturday at 2 p.m. against WestConn. Castleton will honor its seniors prior to the game with a brief Senior Day ceremony.