BOSTON, Mass.—Castleton University scored 4 points in the final 16 seconds, to earn a 57-53 win over host UMass Boston women's basketball on Wednesday night at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

Castleton University 57, UMass Boston 53

(UMass Boston 12-3, Little East 3-3)

(Castleton University 9-5, Little East 4-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Brooke Raiche hit a go-ahead layup with 16 seconds to play and after a Beacons miss, Alexis Quenneville knocked down two free throws to secure the win.

UMass Boston junior forward Joie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) led all players with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds in the loss. She came up huge at the free throw line, as she knocked down 12 of 14 free throws.

Jalani Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) tacked on 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Rachel Tutkus (Braintree, Mass.) and Kaylee Haynes (Bridgewater, Mass.) led the Beacons off the bench. Tutkus finished with four points and eight offensive rebounds, while Haynes chipped in five points, four rebounds and two assists.

Emilee Bose led three Castleton players in double-figures. The senior recorded 20 points on 9-16 shooting and tacked on seven rebounds. Quenneville registered 14 points on 4-9 shooting from deep and Elise Magro posted 10 points and a game-high seven assists.

Castleton jumped all over the Beacons in the first quarter. The Spartans raced out to a 17-2 lead after 7:28, as the Spartans were red-hot and the Beacons struggled to get anything to go.

UMass Boston managed to cut the deficit to 10 (17-7) with 1:09 to go in the quarter, but Quenneville drained a deep, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the quarter and give the Spartans a 20-7 lead after one.

After falling behind by 15 early in the second, UMass Boston began to increase the intensity and chip away at the deficit. Grassi and Alecia Quinones (Stoughton, Mass.) combined for 11 of the Beacons' 18 points in the quarter, as UMass Boston cut the deficit to 32-25 at the break.

Castleton used an 8-4 run midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to 41-33, as Bose and Wright knocked down back-to-back shots.

UMass Boston countered with back-to-back threes from Jackson and Grassi to get the game back to within two and it would stay within two possessions the rest of the way.

The Beacons tied the game for the first time on two Grassi free throws early in the fourth and then took the first lead of the game with two more Grassi free throws with 7:29 remaining.

Quenneville immediately responded with a 3-pointer for Castleton and Magro followed with a layup to give the visitors a 50-47 lead with 6:05 to play.

Grassi hit four-straight free throws to give the Beacons the lead and then Jackson added two more to make it 53-51 UMass Boston with 1:23 to play 

Bose responded with a game-tying layup and then the Spartans forced a Beacons turnover. Raiche gave the Spartans the lead with a layup with 16 seconds left and then Jackon's running layup fell off the rim and was grabbed by Quenneville with five seconds left. The senior hit both free throws to clinch the win.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Grassi moved into sole possession of seventh-place in program history with her 22 points. She needs 96 points to catch UMass Boston/Little East Conference Hall of Famer Stephanie Bogues ('89) for sixth-place all-time (1,129).
• The Beacons shot 28.3 percent from the field (17-60), 23.8 percent from distance (5-21) and 87.5 percent (14-16) from the free throw line.
• With the loss, UMass Boston falls to 1-2 all-time against Castleton. The Beacons split the season-series last year, when the Spartans were in their first season as a Little East Conference program.
• The Beacons finished with a 19-10 edge in offensive rebounds. For the game, the Beacons led 40-32.
• Grassi was honored prior to the contest, after reaching 1,000 career points against UMass Dartmouth on Thursday.
• Wednesday's loss marked the Beacons' first home loss of the season (4-1).

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will travel to face first-place Rhode Island College on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Anchorwomen upset UMass Boston last season in the LEC Quarterfinal Round.