DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University Wolves lost, 65-53, against the visiting Vermont State University Castleton Spartans in Little East Conference (LEC) women's basketball action this afternoon at Feldman Arena.  WestConn drops to 6-14 overall and 2-9 in the Little East, while the Spartans improve to 9-10 overall and 3-7 in the conference.  WestConn will visit LEC rival Eastern Connecticut next on Wednesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. Senior guard Nicole Peralta (North Windham, Conn.) paced the Wolves with 14 points, while Elisa Magro had a game-high 29 points for the Spartans.  The game was also a Play4Kay event on the WestConn campus, featuring pink warm up shirts for the Wolves and WestConn staff and a pre-game free throw session that included Wally the WestConn Wolf.

The game was tied early, 7-7, after an old-fashioned three-point play by junior forward Alyssa Virtue (Groton, Mass.) four minutes into the first quarter, but Castleton scored the next seven points and opened up a 20-14 lead at the first break.  The Wolves closed to 26-21 on a Peralta three pointer with 4:16 left until halftime before the Spartans scored the final 11 points of the second quarter to lead, 37-21, at intermission.  Magro had 16 points at the half.

The home team mounted a comeback in the third frame, chipping away at the Spartan lead and cutting its deficit to dingle digits at 46-37 on an and-one by sophomore guard Malaysia Dingle (Holbrook, Mass.) with 4:12 on the clock.  Dingle scored again  moments later, while senior center Gabrielle Franks (Madison, Conn.) scored on a put-back and Peralta subbed in for an injured Dingle to make two free throws and help the Wolves bring the score to 48-43 at the final stoppage.

In the fourth quarter, Magro opened play with a jumper and Castleton's Maggie McKearin followed with a three-pointer to push the visitors' lead back up to double digits. The Wolves led by less than 10 one more time on a drive by junior Francesca Foster (Mystic, Conn.) that made it, 56-47, with 6:13 left but Magro answered with another jumper and Castleton kept a comfortable cushion the rest of the way.  Franks and Dingle joined Peralta in double figures in scoring for WestConn with 13 and 11 points, respectively, while Franks also had nine rebounds, four assists, and a block.  Virtue finished with seven points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Wolves.  Liz Bailey had 13 points and 13 boards for the Spartans, although WestConn outrebounded Castleton, 48-39.