Johnson State women's basketball shouldered a difficult 55-52 loss to Castleton on Saturday afternoon at Johnson State. Spartan senior Bryanna duPont had a clutch steal in the final 30 seconds and scored Castleton's final three points to lift the visitors ahead by three and sealed the win for the Spartans. With the loss, the Badgers end their season  12-13 overall and 9-9 in conference play. 

The Badgers took time at the beginning of the game to recognize the team's lone senior, Allyson Bruckner. Bruckner 

With time winding down and the score knotted at 52 apiece, duPont performed a textbook, clean steal to strip the the ball from Bruckner and drew a foul. duPont made the first free throw but missed the second, giving the Badgers a chance to call a timeout and go for the win. However, Johnson turned the ball over in the corner with only two seconds remaining. duPont grabbed the ensuing inbound pass and was fouled. She calmly made both free throws, and Makayla Farrara recorded a steal at the buzzer to seal the win. 

The Spartans were outscored 28-21 in the first half and shot just 36.4 percent overall but earned the program's fifth straight 20-win season as they improved to 20-5 and 15-3 in the NAC. The Badgers shot 36.2 percent overall but went 2-for-20 from downtown as they dropped to 12-13 and 9-9 in conference action. 

Ashley Goddard came off the bench to lead Johnson St. with 15 points and six rebounds while Domonique Carter-Stanley added 12 points six rebounds and five assists. Casey DeGreenia contributed nine points and nine boards. 

The Badgers scored the first six points of the game and led 9-3 after the opening four minutes. Castleton eventually pulled within two at 9-7 and 11-9, before a Kaitlyn Brouard layup with 29 seconds left, made it 13-9. The Spartans did respond as Lindsay Sabo made a jumper right before the end of the period to trail 13-11.

Johnson St. kept the Spartan offense at bay through the first half of the second quarter and eventually stretched its lead to 28-19 on a free throw by Goddard with 50 seconds left in the half. However, Taylor Raiche connected on a layup in the final 40 seconds to leave Castleton down 28-21 at break. 

Sabo and Farrara pulled the Spartans within three early in the third, but the Badgers responded with five straight for a 32-25 lead at 7:17. Castleton pushed its lead to 41-35 on a three-point play by Farrara with 2:26 remaining and the Spartans took a 43-39 lead going into the fourth. 

The fourth quarter was back-and-forth, with DeGreenia pulling the Badgers within one, 46-45 at 6:57. duPont responded with a jumper and Ali Jones made it 50-47 with 3:58 left. However, a 5-0 spurt put Johnson St. back in front, 52-50 with just 1:45 remaining. Farrara responded with a layup 13 seconds later to tie the game, setting up duPont's late game heroics. 

After a five-way tiebreaker for the tournament bracket, the Badgers were just barely knocked out of contension and ended their season.