CASTLETON, Vt.- Down by 15 in the second half, Castleton fought to trim the lead to one with 3:52 left in the game. Colby-Sawyer buried their foul shots down the stretch, handing the Spartans their first conference loss of the year, 66-56 at Glenbrook Gym on Wednesday night.
Alyssa Leonard led Castleton with 13 points, while Shelby LaBarge came off the bench to score 11 points and bring down a team-high seven rebounds. Jade Desroches also notched 11 points, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing off four assists.
Kelsey Cahill was dominant inside for the Chargers and tallied a double-double with a game-high 21 points, as well as a game-high eleven rebounds. Katie McCarthy scored 14 points for Colby-Sawyer, including a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.
The first half was a hard-fought, back and forth contest with six ties and no team leading by more than four. After a Kelsey Cahill layup put the Chargers up 22-19 with just under five minutes left in the half, sophomore Ali Jones put home a three-pointer to tie the game. The next Castleton possession, with the Spartans down by two , Jones came back down and swished another three to give the Spartans a 25-24 lead. Colby-Sawyer buried a pair of late shots to earn a 29-25 halftime lead.
In the second half the Chargers opened up the first five minutes by going on a 15-4 run. The Spartans responded in the next eight minutes by going on a 15-1 run of their own. Desroches made it a one-point game when she swiped a pass and took it coast-to-coast for a layup, cutting the Colby-Sawyer lead to 45-44.
The Chargers responded by scoring five straight points off a Katie McCarthy three-pointer and a Kelsey Cahill layup. Castleton continued to battle and brought the lead within one again after an Alyssa Leonard triple made it 50-49.
Colby-Sawyer held onto the lead outscoring the Spartans 16-7 in the final four minutes to bring the game to its final, 66-56. The Chargers went 12-for-12 from the foul line in the final 3:30 to seal their 12th conference victory of the year.
Castleton shot just 31.3 percent from the floor and 6 of 21 from the three-point line; While Colby-Sawyer was 42 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Colby-Sawyer had twenty turnovers in the contest, but outrebounded the Spartans 40-34.
With the loss, Castleton now falls to 19-3 overall and 14-1 in the NAC, while Colby-Sawyer improves to 13-9 and 12-3 in the NAC. The Spartans return to action on Friday when they travel to face Thomas at 5:30PM.