WESTFIELD, Mass. - Castleton struggled to find a consistent offense in its first game back from break, as the Spartans dropped a 70-56 decision to Westfield St. on Wednesday evening at the Woodward Center.

Sophomore Alyssa Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) led the Castleton contingent with 15 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists as the team fell to 6-4 on the season. Senior Christine Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) was the only other player in double figures with 13 points. She also dished out a team-high five assists and pulled down three rebounds.

Gabby Felix (Springfield, Mass.) led the Owls with a 17-point, 12-rebound performance as the they won their third straight to improve to 7-6 on the season. Molly Waitt (Melrose, Mass.) was right behind her with 14 points and nine boards.

The Spartans dug themselves into an early hole, falling behind 7-0 before a layup by Leonard ended their scoring drought at the 15:44 mark. Castleton was unable to close the gap and Westfield eventually extended its lead to ten, 27-17, with 5:20 remaining in the first half.

The Owls' lead ballooned as high as 17 in the final minutes before the Spartans closed the half with six straight points, including four from Vanessa Powers (Marshfield, Vt.) to make it a 36-25 game.

Westfield scored the first four points of the second, however, back-to-back threes by Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) and Kelly Conway (Rutland, Vt.) cut the deficit to nine just 1:57 into the half.

The Owls responded with seven consecutive points to push the lead up to 16 over the next two minutes. The Spartans got back within 11 with just 7:35 to play on a jumper by Stephanie Bull (Milton, Vt.), but couldn't climb any closer as they finished with the 70-56 loss.

Castleton returns to action on Jan. 10, when the Spartans travel to face Lyndon at 5:30 p.m.