CASTINE, Maine – Maine Maritime Academy women's basketball fell to Castleton University 65-54 on Saturday afternoon in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action inside of Smith Gymnasium.

With the loss the Mariners fall to 11-7 overall and 7-5 in the conference, while the Spartans improve to 15-3 on the season and 11-1 in the NAC. Maine Maritime returns to action on Friday, February 2 at Colby-Sawyer College.

The Mariners jumped out to 5-0 lead following a three from Melinda Ogden (Searsport, Maine) and a pair of makes at the line from Megan McLean (Eliot, Maine), but the Spartans fought back to tie the game at 9-9 at 4:34. Castleton took their first lead of the game, 12-11, after two good free throws from Brooke Raiche and carried an 18-16 lead into the second quarter.

Maine Maritime tied the game up twice early in the second quarter, but the Spartans maintained a lead for the rest of the period and took a 29-24 lead into halftime.

Alayne Felix (Mahopac, N.Y.) led the Mariners with eight points in the first half, while Makayla Farrara led Castleton with nine points.

The two teams battled closely in the third quarter, but the Spartans held onto a single-digit lead throughout the quarter and began to pull away in the fourth. Castleton led by 10 points (59-49) with 2:31 to play but Ogden hit a three and Felix made a pair from the line to cut the gap to five (59-54) with 48 seconds left. The Spartans were perfect from the line in the closing minutes to secure the victory.

Felix led Maine Maritime with 15 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal while Chloe Smedley (York, Maine) added 13 points, two rebounds, one steal and an assist.

Amanda Beatty led the Spartans with 13 points and three rebounds and Emilee Bose added 10 points, three rebounds and a steal.

The Spartans shot 44.7 percent from the floor, while the Mariners shot 33.3 percent. The Mariners and Spartans each pulled down 30 rebounds.