Box Score

NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 18, 2012 – The Colby-Sawyer women's basketball team held on to beat Castleton, 74-72 in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon.

Colby-Sawyer, number-two in the league, improves to 19-6 overall and 15-3 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and will host #7 Lyndon in a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday at 5:30 pm. Castleton, who had its 13 game win streak snapped, dips to 19-5 overall and 16-2 in conference play. Castleton ends the season atop the NAC standings and will host #8 Thomas on Tuesday at 5:30 pm.

Junior Taylor DeSanty (North Adams, Mass.) led all scorers with 28 points on 10-18 shooting. DeSanty moved into third all-time in career three-pointers with 156. She also set single season records for points with 521 and field goals with 189. Freshman Kelsey Cahill (Cumberland, R.I.) recorded her second straight double-double with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Junior Cailin Bullett (Millbury, Mass.) had 15 points and a game best six assists. Bullett set a new single season record with 174 assists. Freshman Kesley Bragdon (Wells, Maine) added 15 points on 6-9 shooting off the bench.

Vannesa Powers (Marshfield, Vt.) scored a team-high 24 points and hauled in nine rebounds to pace a trio of Spartans in double-figures. Alyssa Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) added 13 points and five assists while Christine Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) added 11 points including a trio from long distance range. Freshman Meghan O'Sullivan (Merrick, N.Y.) added nine points and nine boards off the bench.

The league's marquee matchup did not disappoint, featuring seven lead changes and nine ties throughout the back-and-forth affair.

The first half alone featured four lead changes and five ties as Castleton raced out to a quick 9-2 lead over the opening three minutes of action. A 13-5 Charger run over the next seven minutes gave Colby-Sawyer its first lead. Neither team led by more than six for the remainder of the half, and the Chargers carried a 35-31 lead into the interval on the strength of four-straight points by DeSanty just before halftime.

DeSanty scored the first eight Charger points of the second half, answering a hoop inside from Powers and a Kelly Conway (Rutland, Vt.) three-pointer to give Colby-Sawyer its largest lead of the game at 43-36 just two minutes into the second half. The Spartans kept within striking distance and grabbed their first lead of the second half with at 55-53 11:14 remaining on a Leonard lay-up, capping an 11-2 run. The Spartans extended the lead to 61-53 on the strength of an O'Sullivan jumper and four points from Tarryn Bolognani (Whitingham, Vt.).

The Spartans maintained the lead until the two-minute mark when a Bullett lay-up made it 71-70. A pair of Powers free throws grabbed the lead back for Castleton before Bullett answered with another lay-up at the other end with just less than a minute remaining.

Colby-Sawyer forced a missed shot and secured the rebound before absorbing a foul with 26 seconds remaining. The Chargers missed both free throws setting up Castleton with a chance to win in the final possession. The Chargers defended well and Castleton was only able to muster a Jaques three with under a second remaining that just missed its mark.

Both teams will host a NAC quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday at a time to be determined.