Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Despite trailing by five at halftime, the Castleton State College women's basketball team outscored the Cadets of Norwich University 37-22 in the second half to post a 63-53 non-conference comeback win against the Cadets at Andrews Hall on Tuesday evening.
With the win, the Spartans improve to a flawless 9-0, while the loss drops the Cadets to 4-5 as both teams enter the midseason break.
The Cadets capitalized on 35.7 percent shooting in the first half to take a 31-26 lead on the strength of 15 points by Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.). The Cadets would trail by four points in the early minutes of the game but would hold a six-point advantage with just under 11 minutes left in the half.
Three minutes later, Castleton would knot the score at 20-20 on a layup by Shelby Labarge and the teams would trade the next two baskets to set the score at 22-22, but Norwich would use a pair of free-throws and a three-point basket by Kelsey Lotti (South Yarmouth, Mass.) to reclaim the lead. A free-throw by Curry with 1:30 remaining in the half would give the Cadets a seven-point edge, marking the largest lead by either team in the first half.
Curry would add another 14 points in the second half to match her season-high of 29, but the Cadets would only see a combined eight points from the rest of the team in the second half, allowing the Spartans to post the comeback win.
The Spartans took the lead for good with 12:22 left to play in the game as Liz Douglass hit a pair of free-throw shots. A three-point basket by Jade Desroches extended the Spartans' lead to five points. With 4:58 remaining in the game the Cadets would cut the Spartans lead to one point on a three-pointer by Curry, but the Spartans would score the next seven points to put the game out of reach.
The Spartans were led offensively by Deroches, who totaled a team-high 20 points. Shelby LaBarge chipped in with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Liz Douglass and Kelly Conway both added eight points. Stephanie Linder aided the Spartans on the boards with eight rebounds.
In addition to Curry, the Cadets saw nine points from Lotti and seven points by freshman Riley Blankenship (Lyndonville, Vt.). Kristine Brammer (Littleton, N.H.) led the Cadets in the paint with a team-best eight rebounds.
The Cadets are idle until Dec. 28, when they round out the 2012 calendar year at the Land of Magic Tournament in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Cadets will match up against Albright at 12:00 p.m. on the 28th and will take on Averett at 10:00 a.m. on Dec. 29.
