CASTLETON, Vt. - December 13, 2019 - The Colby-Sawyer women's basketball team won an exciting game at former conference rival Castleton, 67-64, on Friday evening. 

The Chargers pick up their second win against a Little East Conference opponent this season after defeating Plymouth State in November. 

Colby-Sawyer increases its win streak to six in a row to improve to 9-1. The Chargers are off to their best start in program history (records back to 82-83). Colby-Sawyer travels to Puerto Rico next weekend for a pair of games at the Puerto Rico Classico. The Chargers will play nationally ranked Loras on Friday and Oneonta on Saturday. Castleton drops to 6-3. 

Colby-Sawyer senior Tianna Sugars (Oxford, Maine) led all players with her eighth double-double of the season with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Sugars moved into seventh in career rebounds with 790. She was 6-for-6 from the free throw line and climbed into fifth with 279 made free throws. Senior Lexie Hamilton (Sunapee, N.H.) just missed a triple-double with 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Hamilton also went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and now ranks t-8th with 248 made free throws. First-year Caitlyn Boucher (Swanzey, N.H.) added 12 points, while junior Joslin Wainwright (Plainfield, N.H.) chipped in 11. 

Kylie Wright was 9-of-12 from the floor to lead the Spartans with 20 points. She added seven rebounds. Brooke Raiche contributed 12 points, while Emilee Bose and Alexis Quenneville added 10 points apiece. Katlyn Toomey pulled down a team best eight boards. 

Boucher got the game started with a trey on the first possession for the Chargers. Colby-Sawyer later took an 8-2 lead after a Wainwright layup. The Chargers held the lead for the rest of the quarter and took a 14-10 advantage into the second. Each team made just three field goals, but Colby-Sawyer connected on seven free throws. 

Castleton's Jillian Laughlin hit a three to pull the home team within one, on the first possession of the second. Sugars then took over for the Chargers with a few two-point baskets and a three-pointer to score 11 points in the frame. Colby-Sawyer led by as much as seven, but Castleton shot 50% from the floor and made three treys to make the score 33-29 in favor of the visitors at the break.   

Castleton used a 6-2 run out of the halftime break to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip, 35-35. After another deadlock at 37-all, the Chargers had a brief 4-0 run to take a lead they didn't relinquish until the fourth quarter. The lead stretched to six points by the end of the third quarter, as Sugars made a layup with 17 seconds left to make it 49-43 after three.

The final quarter saw more back-and-forth action, as the two teams traded leads throughout the frame. A 6-0 run by Castleton pulled the Spartans within one, 54-53, with 5:38 to play. Colby-Sawyer pulled back ahead by four, 59-55, but a layup and a three by Raiche gave Castleton its first lead of the game with 2:53 on the clock. The lead traded hands six times in the final minutes, as neither side could stop the other over six consecutive possessions to make it 65-64 in favor of Colby-Sawyer with 45 seconds to play. Following an empty Spartan possession, Castleton fouled to put Sugars at the line with eight seconds remaining, and the forward knocked down both to put Colby-Sawyer ahead, 67-64. The Spartans drew up a final play for Raiche, who pulled the trigger on a three from the left wing, but it was no good as the final horn sounded.

Colby-Sawyer outrebounded Castleton 41-34 to improve to 9-0 this season when grabbing more rebounds than the opponent. The Chargers made 13-of-14 from the charity stripe, while Castleton hit 9-of-10. 

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