Posted: Feb 04, 2014
The Spartans held Johnson St. to just 13 made field goals and 30.2 percent shooting from the field on their way to a 63-34 victory over the Badgers Tuesday evening at Glenbrook Gymnasium.
Four Spartans finished in double-figures with Jade Desroches leading the way with 16 points, including a 4-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. Meghan O'Sullivan tallied 14 points and Alyssa Leonard poured in 10 along with four rebounds and two assists. Shelby Labarge added 14 points off the bench for the Spartans.
Sarah Voorhis and Domonique Carter-Stanley each notched eight points to lead the Badgers. Carter-Stanley also grabbed five rebounds, swiped three steals and dished off two assists. Kasey DeGreenia grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Castleton utilized a full court press to jump out to a 23-2 lead over the first nine minutes of action. Sarah Voorhis ended the run at 10:43 and a three from Eliannie Sola made it 23-7 with 7:44 remaining. The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes before back-to-back buckets by Meghan O'Sullivan and Alyssa Leonard gave the Spartans a 31-10 advantage at 1:33. The Badgers added a three in the final 75 seconds for the 31-13 Castleton edge at the break.
The Spartans extended their lead in the final 20 minutes with an 8-2 run in the first 4:04 of the half. LaBarge then picked up eight of the Spartans next 10 points as the squad extended their lead to 49-17 with 13:28 left in the game. Alyssa Leonard added a five-point run for a 37-point Castleton advantage and the Spartans subbed liberally over the final 12 minutes as they finished with the 29-point victory.
Castleton swiped away 18 steals on defense while forcing 34 total turnovers on the night. Desroches and Liz Douglass shared the Spartan team lead with four steals apiece. The Spartans improved on their nation-leading scoring defense by allowing just 34 points, 11 points less than their season average (45.2).
The Spartans improve to 18-2 on the year and remain perfect at 13-0 in the conference with their eighth straight win. The Badgers slide to 5-13 overall and 5-7 in the conference. Castleton returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 8 when the team travels to Green Mountain College for a 1 pm game while Johnson will host Thomas College on Friday at 7:30pm.