Castleton, VT - The Northern Vermont University-Lyndon women's basketball team took the court for the first time in 18 days on Wednesday evening.  Unfortunately for the Hornets, they dropped a 57-37 decision to host Castleton University in the non-conference matchup.  Castleton improved to 9-6 with the win, while Lyndon fell to 6-4 on the season.

The Hornets showed few signs of rust in the early going, as they jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on a three-point goal from Kerigan Disorda (Benson, VT) and an inside basket from Saleena Porter (St. Johnsbury, VT).  Lyndon maintained its slim lead throughout most of the quarter, but Castleton's Kelly Vuz converted a pair of free throws with 13 seconds to go in the period to pull the Spartans even at 11-11 after one.

After Sage Smith (Colebrook, NH) scored to put the Hornets back in front early in the second quarter, Castleton went on a quick 7-0 run capped by a Ryleigh Coloutti three-pointer to take a five point advantage.  A Smith three ball pulled Lyndon back within two points, but the Spartans closed the half on a 13-3 run to go into halftime leading 31-19.

The Spartans continued to pull away in the second half, extending their advantage to as many as 23 points before settling for the 20-point victory.

Coloutti finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds to pace Castleton.  Vuz finished with 15 points and Liz Bailey came off the bench to chip in 10 points.  Smith was Lyndon's only double figure scorer, as she finished with 12 points.  Riann Fortin (Derby, VT) pulled down a team best 10 rebounds.

Both teams endured frigid shooting nights.  Castleton only connected on 18 of 65 shots (27.7%) and only three of 20 (15%) from behind the three-point arc.  Meanwhile, Lyndon only made 15 of 68 attempts (22.1%), including only 4 of 22 (18.2%) from distance.  The Spartans held a 57-49 rebounding advantage and committed 15 turnovers to 18 for the Hornets.

The Hornets will get back into North Atlantic Conference play this weekend when they host Maine Maritime Academy for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.  Tip-off Friday night is scheduled for 7:30 pm, with the same two teams scheduled to tip at 1:00 pm on Saturday.