NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 11, 2015 – The Castleton women's basketball team held on for a 48-43 road win at Colby-Sawyer in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action Wednesday evening.  

Castleton improves to 18-4 overall and remain atop the NAC standings with a 14-1 record. The Spartans will host Thomas and UMaine-Farmington this weekend. Colby-Sawyer dips to 12-10 overall and 9-6 in the NAC. The Chargers travel down I-89 to play at New England College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

In a match-up featuring two of the stingiest defenses in the country, the game played out exactly that way. Castleton and Colby-Sawyer entered the contest ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the nation in field goal percentage defense. The Chargers shot just 24.2 percent from the floor, while Castleton shot 32.1 percent.

Colby-Sawyer, ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense (49.9ppg) held an opponent under 50 points for the 12th time this season. Castleton is ranked 17th (50.3ppg) and recorded its 13th game with an opponent scoring less than 50.

Colby-Sawyer opened the game with back-to-back three pointers from junior Jessica Shenkel (Sharon, Mass.) and sophomore Lexi Iannone (North Haven, Conn.). The Spartans answered with a 13-2 run capped by a layup from junior Ali Jones (Poultney, Vt.). Castleton took its largest lead at the 3:52 mark, 26-15, after a trey from Jade Desroches (Berkshire, Vt.). The teams then scored one bucket apiece in the final three minutes of the half to give Castleton a 28-17 lead at the break.  

The Spartans held a double figure lead throughout most of the second half as both teams struggled shooting the ball. Colby-Sawyer cut the deficit to nine at 43-34 with 2:38 to play after a Katie McCarthy (Mansfield, Mass.) lay-in, but Castleton responded with a trey from Lindsay Sabo (Stanhope, N.J.). The Chargers then used a 7-0 run to close the gap to 46-41 with 37 seconds remaining, but could not get any closer as Castleton held on for the 48-43 victory.

Senior Meghan O'Sullivan (No. Merrick, N.Y.) led the Spartans with 11 points, while Desroches finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. The teams leading rebounded, junior Bryanna DuPont (Marshfield, Vt.) had a team-high 12 boards.

Colby-Sawyer was led by senior Kelsey Cahill's (Cumberland, R.I.) 17 points. She also collected four steals to move into third on Colby-Sawyer's career steals list with 243. Sophomore Kristin Ellis (South Easton, Mass.) tied a season and career-high with 20 rebounds. She had 20 boards against New England College on January 24.