The Middlebury women's basketball team made five of its first six shots in Tuesday's opening quarter en route to a 75-47 triumph over Vermont State University Castleton.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers found a spark early in the opening stanza with four-consecutive jumpers from Alexa Mustafaj and a fastbreak layup from Kale Tornwini to build a 10-4 edge with 6:44 left.
• Middlebury's lead continued to grow as a runner in the paint from Leah Poorman capped a 10-0 run for a 20-6 advantage at the 2:51 mark. Castleton had the final bucket on a fastbreak layup from Stasia Epler to make it a 20-8 contest after the first quarter.
• The Spartans started to find the cylinder near the halfway point of the second. Epler dashed through the Panther defense for a layup followed by a three-point field goal from Maggie McKearin to cut the deficit to 13 (27-14) with 5:45 elapsed. 
• The home team put its foot on the gas pedal after McKerain's three. A driving layup by Mustafaj swelled into a 16-5 blitz for a 42-19 lead heading into the locker room. Keeley Baglio led the charge with five points over that span.
• Augusta Dixon became the hot hand for the Panther offense out of the break, netting four of the Panthers' six points for a 48-20 lead with 7:34 showing on the clock. 
• The Spartans chipped away at the deficit with back-to-back layups from Emily Dingmon to make the score 50-27 before a Sarah Chenette layup and Poorman free throw put Middlebury back up by 26 after the third.
• The Panthers stretched their lead to 69-39 on a fastbreak layup from Catherine Carrafiello nearly halfway through the final quarter. 
• Epler nailed a three-pointer with 43 ticks left before Meghan McDonald had the final bucket on a putback layup for the 75-47 triumph.

NOTES

• Mustafaj led the Panther offense with 20 points on 10-15 from the field.
• Dixon tallied her fourth game with double-digit rebounds (12) while adding eight points and a team-high three assists.
• Poorman put up a career-best six points and matched her Middlebury high with seven boards.
• Middlebury had a 54-18 edge in points in the paint and forced 19 Spartan turnovers.

The Panthers open December with a non-conference battle against Connecticut College on Sunday in Albany, New York.