North Dartmouth, Mass. – The Castleton women's basketball team started its 2013-14 season on a solid note by pulling away from Framingham St. in the second half on the way to a 71-50 victory over the Rams on Friday afternoon in the Fairfield Inn & Suites Women's Basketball Classic hosted by UMass-Dartmouth.
The Spartans outscored Framingham St. by 15 points in the final 20 minutes, as they held the Rams to just 25 percent shooting from the field while shooting 51.6 percent. They also assisted on 17 of their 29 made field goals in the game while Framingham St. recorded just five assists on 18 field goals. Castleton finished the game shooting 43.9 percent from the floor while the Rams shot 27.3 percent.
Senior Alyssa Leonard led three players in double figures with 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting to go along with four rebounds and two assists. Liz Douglass added ten points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals while Meghan O'Sullivan chipped in with 15 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Overall ten different Spartans scored at least two points.
Kristen Hoffman led the Rams with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, but committed four turnovers and made just 4 of 16 shots from the field. Margo McCarthy added 13 points and six rebounds.
It was slowing going for Castleton early, as the teams were tied 12-12 with 10:43 left in the half. However six straight points, including four from O'Sullivan pushed the Spartan lead to 18-12 with 8:27 remaining. Framingham St. tied it at 18 apiece with 6:58 left, but never took the lead as Castleton finished the half on a 12-6 run.
A pair of baskets by the Rams closed the gap to 30-28 just 87 seconds into the second half, though Leonard hit a three to make it a five-point game. Another 4-0 run narrowed the lead to one at 16:11; however, the Spartans scored nine straight points over the next three minutes to take a ten point lead, 42-32.
Framingham St. cut the Castleton advantage to single digits at 42-34, but never got closer than ten again. The Spartans slowly extended their lead and used their depth to pull in front by at least 20 on multiple occasions in the last five minutes.
Shelby LaBarge was solid in 22 minutes off the bench with five points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Senior Heather Murdough led the team with six offensive rebounds in 20 minutes, and finished with nine overall to go along with six points.
Castleton advances to face host UMass-Dartmouth in the Fairfield Inn & Suites Women's Basketball Classic Championship at 2 pm on Saturday. The Corsairs advanced with a 91-43 victory over Elms in the day's first game.