CASTLETON, Vt. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's basketball team was in the mix until the final minutes with one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, falling to #24 UMass Dartmouth 66-56 at Glenbrook Gym.
 
The Spartans (9-12, 3-9 LEC) were within a single possession midway through the final frame and were within two possessions with less than two minutes to play, but late free throw shooting sealed the victory for the Corsairs (18-3, 10-2 LEC).
 
Liz Bailey notched her fourth double-double in her last five games, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and five blocks. Stasia Epler had 12 points and five boards and Emily Adams added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Elise Magro chipped in nine points, six rebounds and four steals.
 
Four different Corsairs were in double figures scoring with Carly Whiteside's 18 points leading the charge. Tyah Pettaway had 15 off the bench to go with her 11 rebounds and Melanie DeMeo had 14 points—six of which came in the final minute of the game. Teja Andrews added 10 points.
 
The Spartans had a 53-45 edge in rebounding, but 22 Spartan turnovers proved costly as UMass Dartmouth scored 16 points off those miscues. A number of Castleton turnovers came in crucial moments late in the game, as UMass Dartmouth's pressure overpowered the Spartans.
 
Both teams were feeling each other out in the first quarter, with the game deadlocked at 6-6 through more than five minutes. An 8-0 run to end the frame sent the Corsairs into the second quarter on top 14-6, however.
 
The Spartans opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to pull within a point. Epler accounted for five of those points, making the score 16-15. Consecutive Corsair buckets set the lead at five points, but Bailey hit a three and Adams notched a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give the Spartans the lead back, 21-20. The two sides traded blows, going back-and-forth for the next two minutes to a 27-26 lead for the Spartans. Adams hit a jumper to extend the edge to three. After a pair of Pettaway free throws, Magro finished the half with a jumper that found the bottom of the bucket to give VTSU Castleton a 31-28 halftime lead.
 
The Corsairs came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, going on a 7-0 run over the first four minutes to regain the lead, 36-31. The Spartans continued to battle, pulling with a point on five separate occasions throughout the third quarter. The Corsairs held them off each time, answered each of Castleton's third-quarter comeback attempts to go into the fourth with the Spartans trailing by just a point, 47-46.
 
Castleton finally broke through once more early in the fourth, as Adams dropped in a layup for a 48-47 lead 20 seconds in. Magro made it a 50-49 edge for Castleton with a jumper of her own before the Corsairs rattled off five in a row to lead 54-40 with less than seven minutes to play. Epler hit a layup to halve the lead to 54-52, but a 6-2 spurt by UMass Dartmouth made it 60-54 with 3:03 remaining. Kathryn Moore buried a pair of free throws to get within four, 60-56, but DeMeo made a layup and then hit four free throws in the final minute to put the game away for UMass Dartmouth. The Corsairs were aided by four Spartan turnovers in the final 1:38.
 
VTSU Castleton takes on Plymouth State on the road on Wednesday night with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m. in New Hampshire.