NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's basketball team opened up their season Friday night with a 77-53 defeat at the hands of Castleton in Andrews Hall.

Castleton (1-0) was had four players with double digit scoring efforts.  Ryleigh Coloutti and Elise Magro both had 14 points, and Jordan Levesque and Gwyn Tatton had 13 and 11 points respectively.  Olivia Perry led scoring for the Spartans with eight rebounds nad, Magro had a team high six assists and five steals.

Norwich (0-1) had 20 points out of the hands of Silas Bernier (Jaffrey, N.H.) who went 7-of-10 from the field, knocking down 4 of her five attempts from beyond the arc. Skylar Burzynski (Orange, Conn.) dished out five of the teams 13 assists in the game while, Haley Brewster had a game-high 13 rebounds in her collegiate debut.

In the first quarter of the contest, Bernier grabbed an offensive rebound and was able to convert on a layup attempt shortly after to put the Cadets on the board. The Spartans would put their first point on the scoreboard after Coloutti converted at the free throw line.

Later in the first quarter a jumper by MacKenzie Moore (Georgia, Vt.) gave the Cadets an 11-10 lead with 2:29 remaining.  Gwyn Tatton then converted on a pair of free throws to give regain the lead for the Spartans, Tatton would convert a layup two possessions later to give Castleton a 14-11 advantage after the first.

Norwich scored six of the first seven points of the second quarter to take the edge over the Spartans. Castleton and the Cadets would battle back and forth throughout the rest of the first half, going into the break with the Cadets holding a 26-24 advantage.

The Spartans opened the second half scoring the first 17 points in the third quarter, taking a 41-26 lead over the Cadets. Castleton's offense scored 29 points in the third quarter while playing tight defense on the Cadets.

The Cadets scored 20 points in the final frame of the game, Hannah Stitely (Westminster, Md.) scored nine of her 11 points in the game in the fourth quarter. 

Norwich will be on the court again in the Plattsburgh State Cardinal Classic when they face off against Potsdam at Plattsburgh State on Friday, Nov. 12.  They will then play the Cardinals on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. They will play on the road until Dec. 3 when they host Colby-Sawyer for the opening round of the Hockenbury Classic.