A coast-to-coast lay-in by Castleton's Jade Desroches with four seconds left gave the visiting Spartans a 53-51 win over Middlebury at Pepin Gym. Middlebury (2-3) attempted a desperation, game-winning three as Laura Lowry's mid-court shot hit the back-iron as time expired. Both teams return to action on Saturday as the Panthers, owners of a 17-8 lead in the in-state series, are on the road at Skidmore, while Castleton (4-1) hosts New England College.

Castleton jumped out to a 14-6 lead, highlighted by six points from Alyssa Leonard. The lead grew to 27-16 at 6:17 on a lay-up by Leonard before the Panthers closed out the half on a 14-6 run of their own. Lowry led the charge with eight points, including two threes and two assists, setting the score at 33-30 in favor of the Spartans at the break.

Castleton built another 11-point lead by scoring the first eight points of the second half, highlighted by Liz Douglass' five points. Trailing 41-30 with 14:03 left, the Panthers responded with an 18-6 run over the next nine minutes of action, retaking the lead on a three-ball from Rachel Crews at the 5:01 mark. Crews contributed 10 points during the comeback with two threes, while Katie Pett added two baskets.

After a Spartan bucket at 3:36 gave Castleton the lead, Sarah Marcus hit 1-2 free throws to tie it at 49-all with 1:42 left to play. Leonard and Pett exchanged baskets, before Castleton called time-out at 1:03 with the game knotted at 51 apiece.

Following the time-out, the Spartans missed a three as Marcus collected the defensive rebound with 42 ticks to play. Douglass got her hand on a Middlebury lay-up, but the Panthers retained the ball with 20 seconds left. With 14 seconds on the clock, Desroches blocked a Lowry shot near the low block, got the rebound and went coast-to-coast for the go-ahead score with four seconds remaining. Lowry's mid-court, potential game-winner caromed off the back of the rim as time expired.

Crews finished with a dozen points, while Elizabeth Knox netted 12 and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Lowry finished with 10 points, with four assists, as Pett grabbed 10 boards to go along with eight points.

Douglass netted a game-best 13 with four assists, while Desroches added 11 and Leonard chipped in 10 points with nine rebounds. Heather Murdough collected as game-high 11 caroms and blocked a pair of shots.