(February 26, 2008) - Castleton VT-The Castleton State College women’s basketball earned a spot in the North Atlantic Conference semifinal round with a 72-47 quarterfinal win over Thomas College. The win was Castleton’s fifth consecutive, and improves the Spartans overall record to 19-7. The loss ends Thomas’s season at 12-12.

Thomas jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but a 9-0 run put the Spartans ahead with 16 minutes to go in the first half and they would never trail again. The Terriers would not go away, however and tied the score at 16 with 7:21 remaining after an Amy Miles three-pointer. Castleton closed the half on a 13-3 spurt, and led 29-19, as the Spartans earn their sixth-consecutive trip the NAC Final Four.

Senior Lea McNary led the Terriers with 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, while freshman Cortney Barrett added nine points and 10 rebounds.

Castleton blistered the nets in the second half, shooting 48% from the field and 54% from three-point land for 43 second-half points. Laura Cary (picture above right) finished with a game-high 16 points and six rebounds as Castleton placed 10 players in the scoring column. Mary Nienow also added 16, including four three-pointers. LeeAnne Ketchen was a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the three-point stripe en route to 13 points. Point guard Jess Banks played an outstanding floor game, scoring eight points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out 11 assists.

The Spartans, who will host the NAC semifinals on Friday, February 29, will meet West division rival Becker, 68-49 victors over defending champion Maine Farmington, tip-off at 6:00 pm.

Maine Maritime advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season defeating Elms 65-25. The East division top seed will be seeded second in the semifinal round and will face in-state rival Husson on Friday at 8:00 pm. Husson advanced past Johnson State 75-65 in quarterfinal action. Semifinal winners will meet Saturday at 2:00 pm at Castleton. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. [Box Score]

2007-08 NAC Women's Basketball Championship

Semifinals - Friday, February 29 – [teams are reseeded]
#1 Castleton vs. #4 Becker 6:00 PM
#2 Maine Maritime vs. #3 Husson 8:00 PM

Championship - Saturday, March 1
Semifinal Winners 2:00 PM

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