Castleton State College Downs Women’s Basketball 70-48

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass.- Elms College freshman Jen Normandie (Westford, Mass.) netted a team-high 11 points but Castleton State College's Megan Johnson (Rutland, V.T.) and Vanessa Powers (Marshfield, V.T) each finished with a game-high 16 points to help lift the Spartans to a 70-48 victory over the Blazers in Saturday afternoon's non-conference women's basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the loss, Elms falls to 1-6 on the season, while Castleton State improves to 4-5 overall.

The sides battled in the early going before Castleton State mounted a 10-point lead halfway through the first period. Christine Jacques (Burlington, V.T.) paced the Spartans offensive strike as she was perfect behind the arc hitting three treys to score the Spartans' first nine points before connecting on another to finish with 12 points in the stanza. All four of her three-pointers came before the 14-minute mark.

Leading 15-9 with 13:50 remaining in the frame, Castleton State used a 20-7 over the next 10 minutes to stake a 19-point 35-16 lead and closed out the half with a 22-point, 42-22 lead. 

In the second half the Blazers were able to cut the deficit to 16 at the 8:15 mark after a free throw from senior forward Amanda Brogna (Oxford, Mass.) made the score 58-42. The Spartans responded using a 9-0 run to set the score at 67-42 and post a 25-point cushion with 4:24 remaining. From there, Castleton State never allowed Elms to cut its deficit to more than 21.

The Spartans shot 40 percent from the field in the second frame, and led by as many as 27 (53-26 at 14:14) to help secure the victory.

Two Blazers scored in double figures, Normandie with 11 and Brogna with 10. Senior guard Jessica Jurkowski (Belchertown, Mass.) put in a solid effort collecting both seven points and seven boards.

Powers scored nine of her 16 points in the first half, while 10 of Johnson's 16 points came in the second period. Jacques added a three-pointer in the second stanza to finished with 15 for the game to give the Spartans three players with double-digit outputs.

Both Powers and Johnson also hauled in eight rebounds, while Tarryn Bolognani (Whittingham, V.T.) paced the offensive effort with eight assists. Katie Hoxsie (Middlebury, V.T.) added six assists in the winning effort for Castleton State.

Elms returns to action Saturday, Jan. 2 in the Wheaton New Year’s Tournament. Elms will face Wheaton (Mass.) at 1:00 p.m. on the first day of competition.