CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's basketball team ran into one of the toughest teams in the nation on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 3 Rhode Island College 92-42 at Glenbrook Gym.
The Spartans (8-10, 2-7 LEC) were paced by 14 points from
Stasia Epler and nine from
Liz Bailey. Bailey came close to a double-double in the contest, snagging 12 rebounds in the contest.
Elise Magro had six points and six rebounds and
Maggie McKearin added five points.
Five players scored double figures for Rhode Island College, as the third-ranked Anchorwomen picked up their 18th win in a row and now sit at 9-0 in league play. Izabelle Booth had 18 points, Sophia Guerrier added 16 and Angelina Nardolillo and Neleesha Meunier had 14 each. Maggie Schwab rounded out the double-digit group with 11.
The Anchorwomen hit 44.2 percent from the floor while holding the Spartans to just 25.9 percent as a team. Castleton hit four threes and 10 free throws while the Anchorwomen had eight threes and eight free throws. Turnovers proved costly in the contest, as 23 Spartan miscues added 29 points for the Anchorwomen. RIC also had 24 second-chance points on 25 offensive rebounds.
Trailing big coming out of the locker room at halftime, the Spartans put forth a strong effort in the third quarter. An early 5-0 run in the third quarter and a later 9-1 run gave the Spartans their highest-scoring quarter of the game while also holding RIC to its lowest offensive output of the contest.
VTSU Castleton returns to action next Saturday at 2 p.m. on the road against WestConn.