BOSTON, Mass.  –  Graduate forward Meg Dixon recorded her 10^th double-double of the season, tallying 24 points and 13 rebounds while freshman guard Tatiannah Fevry scored nine first half points as UMass Boston Women's Basketball fell in a double overtime thriller against Castleton University, 76-67, at home on Wednesday night.

The loss ensures that should the Beacons qualify for the Little East Conference Tournament, they will do it as either the fifth or sixth seed and play on the road for the LEC Quarterfinals.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 67, Castleton University 76 (2OT)

UMass Boston (12-11, 5-8 LEC)

Castleton University (15-7, 8-5 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore forward Liz Bailey helped lead Castleton on a 6-0 run to start the game with four points, forcing UMass Boston to call an early timeout. The Spartans would maintain their edge, leading by as many as 10 points in the opening frame after a layup from freshman forward Felicia Poirier made it 15-5 in favor of the visitors. A Dixon jumper and Fevry buzzer beater cut the deficit to six, 15-9, heading into the second.

For the first five minutes of the second, the Spartans would maintain in control, taking as big as an 11-point edge with 6:14 left in the half. The Beacons would begin to chip away at their deficit, with three consecutive threes from Dixon and sophomore guard Sunny Green around a pair of Bailey free throws. With 2:32 left in the second, Castleton regained a six-point lead, 29-23, at which point UMass Boston closed on an 8-2 run to pull even at 31 heading into the half.

With the game knotted up at 33 all in the third, the Spartans rallied for six consecutive points with four coming from senior guard Elise Magro and two from freshman guard Emily Adams. The Beacons would only be able to creep within four points on two occasions before three straight baskets from Castleton made it a double-digit game, 48-37. A pair of free throws from junior forward Alexah Potter made it a nine-point deficit for the Beacons heading into the final quarter, 49-40.

A scoreless first two minutes and change gave way to an 8-0 run for UMass Boston that helped pull them within one after a three from Green and five consecutive points from Dixon. Taking the lead for the first time in the game, a layup from Potter gave the Beacons a one-point advantage, 52-51. Trailing by two, Dixon's layup with 1:22 would tie the game up at 54 all and out of the Castleton timeout, an offensive foul by Bailey, the leading scorer for the Spartans, knocked her out of the game with five fouls.

On a defensive miscue, senior guard Keriann Farina slipped free underneath the hoops with 38 seconds left as UMass Boston regained the lead, 56-54. Following a missed three from Magro, a loose ball went in favor of the Spartans and out of another timeout, Magro would hit a jumper to tie the game back up at 56 with 12 seconds left in regulation. With two seconds remaining, freshman guard Sibayla Jensen would get the ball in the corner and get blocked on her drive by Poirier, sending the game to overtime.
 
A Dixon three and a free throw from Green gave UMass Boston a four-point advantage early in the five-minute overtime before a three from graduate guard Kelly Vuz and two free throws from Magro gave Castleton the lead by one, 61-60, with 1:23 left. Two missed free throws by Adams gave the Beacons the ball back with 28 seconds before Dixon went one for two at the line to tie it at 61 and a missed layup from Magro sent the game to a second overtime.

 A three-point play for Vuz followed by four straight points from Magro helped Castleton jump out to a seven-point lead with 1:35 remaining in the second overtime. Looking to fight back, senior guard Paige Ollivierre knocked down a three, but the Beacons would only be able to within six, 71-65, before the Spartans iced the game on free throws, winning the double overtime thriller, 76-67.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outrebounded Castleton University by a small margin of 49-47
• Meg Dixon played 47 of a possible 50 minutes in the double overtime affair
• Elise Magro led the way for Castleton with 30 points on 9-of-30 shooting
• Liz Bailey finished with 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter

WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston hits the road for a game this weekend against the top team in the Little East Conference, Rhode Island College, at 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. The Beacons fell to the Anchorwomen at home earlier this season, 65-55. Rhode Island College had won 18 consecutive games, last losing on November 16^th, 2022 against Babson College, 62-34, before falling to Eastern Connecticut tonight, 66-55.