Castleton Falls to Norwich

CASTLETON, Vt. - The Castleton State College women's basketball team allowed a late run by Norwich and the Cadets hit their foul shots in the final minute to secure the 66-60 victory on Tuesday evening in Glenbrook Gymnasium.

The Spartans led for much of the first and second halves before going scoreless for nearly four minutes late in the game. The loss drops Castleton to 6-3 on the season while Norwich improves to 5-6 overall.

Senior Vanessa Powers (Twinfield, Vt.) and sophomore Alyssa Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) each scored 14 points to lead Castleton. Powers added 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Leonard dished out a team-high seven assists to go with four rebounds and three steals. Freshman Alyssa Moore (Rutland, Vt.) added 11 points off the bench.

Freshman Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.) and senior Jocelyn Fasulo (Contoocook, N.H.) led the Cadet attack. Curry finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-for-23 shooting, including 16 points in the second half. Fasulo fell just short of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds, while also blocking an impressive seven shots.

The Spartans got themselves in an early 4-0 hole to start the game, but tied the game up at seven on a three by Christine Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) at the 12:41 mark. The shot sparked a 10-2 run, capped off by an Moore jumper with 8:20 remaining. Norwich responded with seven straight points to get within one, but a layup by Leonard pushed the lead to 19-16 at the 5:04 mark. Castleton got its lead as high as ten in the final minutes, but a 5-0 run in the last 45 seconds by the Cadets left them trailing 28-23 at the break.

The two teams went back and forth to start the second half, though the Spartans were eventually able to push their lead to nine, 48-39, on a pair of free throws by Powers with 9:24 remaining. Fasulo hit a jumped to end the run and the Cadets proceeded to go on a 9-0 run over the next 3:49 to tie the contest at 48 with 5:35 remaining.

Castleton took back a 52-50 lead two minutes later, however, a 7-0 spurt gave Norwich the 57-52 advantage with 2:48 left. The Spartans climbed back within one at the 1:15 mark on a three by Moore to make it 61-60. However, they wouldn't score again as the Cadets hit all but one of their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Norwich returns to action on Jan. 7, when it hosts Mt. Ida at 7 p.m. The Spartans return to the court on Jan. 5, when they travel to play Westfield St. at 5:30 p.m.