PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Vermont State University Castleton women's basketball team earned a crucial victory on Wednesday night, taking down Plymouth State 74-61 in Little East Conference action on the road.
The Spartans improve to 4-9 in league play and 10-12 overall with the win, pulling within a game of the No. 6 seed in the conference with three games to play. Plymouth State is now 9-12 overall and 5-8 in the LEC and currently is in control of the No. 6 seed and final playoff spot in the league. The two teams split the season series, with the road team coming out victorious in each matchup.
Elise Magro had a historic night, dropping 31 points while hitting 14-of-14 at the free throw line to become the first Spartan on record to make more than 14 or more free throws without a miss. Only two other players in Division III entering Wednesday night have gone 14-for-14 or better at the line this season. She also had eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. The 31 points were also enough to move Magro into second place on Castleton women's basketball's all-time scoring list, surpassing Castleton Hall of Famer Brenda Keenan, who finished with 1,612 points in 1987. Magro now has 1,619 career points and trails only Michelle DuFour, who amassed 1,695 points in her career at Castleton.
Stasia Epler added 13 points and
Maggie McKearin chipped in nine points and seven rebounds.
Liz Bailey had eight points, six boards and four assists to go with three blocks on the defensive end.
Arianna Coombs had a good night on defense, blocking two shots and adding three steals.
Brianna Wilcox had 28 points for the Panthers, followed by Lea Crompton with 10 points. Wilcox also had eight rebounds and Crompton dished out seven assists.
The Spartan offense was firing from the jump, taking an early 7-2 lead with three different players hitting field goals. Back-to-back jumpers by Magro later in the frame made it a 13-7 lead, and four straight free throws by the Spartans—two from Magro and two from
Emily Adams—extended the gap to 19-11. A late jumper by Wilcox made it a 19-13 Spartan lead after 10 minutes.
Seven unanswered points to open the second quarter pushed Castleton's edge to 13 points, with Epler drilling a three and Magro and McKearin adding layups. A 6-0 run later in the frame put the Spartans ahead 32-17, but Plymouth closed the half on a 6-0 run of its own to go into halftime trailing by just 10 points—35-25.
The Panthers worked to whittle away at Castleton's lead in the third quarter, but the Spartans had an answer at every turn. Five minutes into the frame the Spartans' lead was 11 points, but an 8-2 run by the Panthers made it a six-point game, 45-39. McKearin busted the slump with a three, but Plymouth closed the quarter with another late bucket to make it a 48-41 Castleton lead going to the final 10 minutes.
A 5-1 run by Plymouth to start the fourth quarter pulled the Panthers within a possession, 49-46. After trading free throws to a 51-48 VTSU Castleton lead, Magro hit a jumper for a five-point edge. Crompton answered on the other end to make it a three-point gap once more, but Magro's only three-point attempt of the day made it a six-point game before Epler added some cushion with a layup for a 58-50 edge. A three-point play by Crompton pulled Plymouth within five, but Epler and Magro combined to hit four straight free throws to set the lead at nine points, 62-53.
The Spartans were clutch at the free throw line down the stretch, hitting 14 free throws in the final two minutes to put the game away. In total, the Spartans hit 23-of-24 at the line as a team, good for their highest single-game percentage in at least 20 years when attempting 20 or more free throws as a program (95.8 percent). The last time the Spartans shot above 90.0 percent on 20-plus attempts was in 2015 against Colby-Sawyer (95.5 percent, 21-of-22).
The Spartans continue their hunt for the LEC postseason on Saturday when they host Eastern Connecticut at 1 p.m. in Glenbrook Gym.
