DANBURY, Conn. - Senior forward Alyssa Virtue (Groton, Conn.) had 17 points, nine rebounds, and three assists to lead the Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 60-50 win over the visiting Vermont State University Castleton Spartans in Little East Conference (LEC) women's basketball action this evening at Feldman Arena.  WestConn improves to 3-4 overall and evens its league mark at 1-1 with a road tilt at conference rival Plymouth State up next on Saturday at 1 p.m.  The Spartans fall to 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the LEC with its second loss in a row.

The offenses started slowly with the game tied at 6-6 with 2:12 left in the first quarter, and Wolves freshman guard Deona Garcia (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) drilled a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:20 to help the home team to a 12-12 tie at the first break.  WestConn used an 10-2 run to start the second frame to go ahead, 22-14, as Virtue scored six points during the run.  Emily Adams converted an old-fashioned three-point play to tie give Castleton a 25-24 lead with 1:02 on the clock, but Virtue scored another bucket and freshman Xiomara Soto (Danbury, Conn.) made a trey in the closing seconds to give WestConn a 28-26 lead at halftime.

The teams traded baskets throughout the third stanza, until Garcia scored on a drive with 27 seconds on the clock to put the Wolves ahead, 46-37, only to have Emily Dingmon score as time expired for the Spartans.  Stasia Epler made a three-pointer fat the 6:29 mark of the third to pull the visitors to within a point at 50-49.  Garcia connected on her third of the game from long range just 25 seconds later to ignite a 10-0 Wolves run that lasted into the final 20 seconds of the contest.

Garcia finished with a career-high 13 points and fellow rookie Nia Rencher (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) added 11 points to give the Wolves three players in double figures in scoring.  Rencher also had 10 rebounds and three steals, while freshman center Fatmata Barrie () added six points, 13 rebounds, and two steals off the bench, and junior guard Malaysia Dingle (Brockton, Mass.) dished five assists for the Wolves.  Dingmon paced the Spartans with 16 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals. Adams and Epler both scored 10 points for Castleton with Adams also grabbing eight rebounds and Epler adding six assists.