BANGOR-- Scoring early and often plus playing shutdown man to man defense is a formula that can lead to many victories in basketball. Castleton State followed this formula, and the result was a 73-50 victory over the Husson women Saturday at Newman Gymnasium. Vanessa Powers had a game high 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Spartans, while Alyssa Leonard chipped in with 16 points and three steals.

Castleton State had control from the start as they made their first four shots and raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes. Leonard sparked that run by hitting a 17- foot jumper on the first possession of the game, followed by a steal on defense. She turned that steal into a layup, and in the first minute of the game she had four points. “The stats were great, but I felt the best part of my game was the energy I brought. I felt like my teammates were really feeding off my energy,” said Leonard.

The Spartans were clicking on all cylinders offensively, shooting 52 percent from the field. Castleton State had four players in double figures. They also had eight out of nine players score. Head coach Tim Barrett credited the great shooting performance to his team’s outstanding passing. “We were always looking for the extra pass. Being able to pass well balances the scoring load, because everyone can get involved.”

On the other side of things, Husson missed many open shots; including making only two three-point shots out of 13 attempts. They also had trouble passing against the Spartans' tight man to man scheme. Castleton anticipated a lot of passes, and the result was 13 steals. These steals led to many uncontested fast break layups. Husson head coach Kissy Walker was not pleased with her team's play. “We missed a lot of open jumpers. They did a good job of contesting but we missed the open shots as well. Our passing game was also pretty weak today.”

Throughout the game Husson could not find any rhythm offensively. The Eagles were held in check because the Spartans were able to limit second chance points. Castleton showed that they wanted this game bad, by diving for every loose ball. The top ranked team in the North Atlantic Conference acknowledged the importance of playing well this game. “Winning on the road against a team this good is huge for our confidence,” said forward Vanessa Powers.

Husson got 16 points from Stephanie Comstock, who was one of three Eagles to reach double digits in points. The Eagles fall to 10-9 on the season with a 10-3 record in conference play. Castleton State improves to 16-4 on the year with a record of 13-1 in conference games. Husson travels to Colby on Tuesday, looking to get back on the winning track.
 

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