BRUNSWICK, Maine – All good things – even the best season ever assembled by a Plattsburgh State women's basketball team – must come to an end.

The ending to this season, however, came as a complete surprise to everyone who was following along.

Possessing what appeared to be a comfortable 20-point lead in the early moments of the second half, the Cardinals fell victim to a once-in-a-lifetime comeback assault by Castleton State who went on to capture an improbable 76-70 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament second round overtime triumph in Morrell Gymnasium on the campus of Bowdoin College on Saturday night.

Plattsburgh State wraps up their storybook season with a 25-6 overall record, and went on to advance further than any other team in the history of the program had. The Cardinals set new team marks for single-seasons wins as well as conference wins and picked up the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament victory with a 67-56 triumph over Roger Williams on Friday night.

 In her final game in red and white, reigning SUNYAC Player of the Year Kathleen Payne netted a team-high 19 points and put the wraps on another double-double by securing a game-high 10 rebounds. The Goshen, N.Y., product closes the books on what will go down as the best career ever by a Cardinal as she holds the school records in career points (1,722) and career rebounds (759).

The owner of no fewer than three single-season bests, Payne poured in 569 points during the final leg of her sparkling career – the most ever in just one season by a Plattsburgh State player. Only four other Plattsburgh State basketball players of any gender have racked up more markers in a single campaign than Payne did in 2013-14.

It looked as though a runaway victory by the Cardinals was going to be the outcome if the first 20 minutes were any indication. Plattsburgh State began the frame with a 16-4 run, scoring at will against the highly-touted Castleton State defense.

In all, five players contributed to the Cardinals' opening salvo with Brooke Reifinger closing it by connecting on Plattsburgh State's second long ball of the night. A three-point play by the Spartans' Alyssa Leonard cut the Cardinals' advantage to 18-14 with 7:42 to go in the half, but a triple hit by Jax Miller sparked an 18-3 run which made matters 36-17 with 1:29 remaining in the frame.

Continuing her impressive play from the evening before, senior Tequilla Lloyd fired in eight points through the course of the first 20 minutes while Payne added 13 on 4-of-9 shooting. Devona Paul's jumper 10 seconds into the second 20-minute stanza gave Plattsburgh State a 40-20 edge before things started unraveling.

Liz Douglass and Jade Desroches led the Spartans on a 12-2 run with Douglass pouring in eight of the points during the offensive blitz. Still, the Cardinals didn't appear to be in any real danger as a three-point play by former Spartan Stephanie Linder upped the Plattsburgh State margin to 45-32 with 14:30 showing on the clock.

Another powerful scoring push by Castleton came in the form of a 14-2 surge in which Meghan O'Sullivan put in the first five. The only points Plattsburgh State mustered during the run were a pair of free throw makes by Paul, and a field goal was not to be scored by the Cardinals for a stretch of 5:51.

Clinging to a 47-46 lead, Reifinger knocked down another triple with 8:39 remaining in regulation to quell the surging Spartans for a moment. Another 12-3 run by the Vermonters, though, put the Cardinals down 59-53 with 5:21 on the clock.

Castleton State remained in control, owning a 65-59 lead with 1:17 to go, before Brittany Marshall pulled out some heroics of her own.

The junior canned a pair of long balls in the final 1:17 to force an extra session, but Shelby LaBarge took over for the Spartans in the five-minute frame. Of the 11 points scored by Castleton State, LaBarge accounted for all but two and the Cardinals misfired on seven of their nine field goal attempts to wind up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Castleton State shot 53.1-percent in the second half (17-of-32) after the Cardinals limited the Spartans to an 8-of-31 (25.8-percent) showing in the first stanza. For the game, Plattsburgh State hit 25 of its 73 (34.2-percent) field goal attempts.

Also playing in their final games were Lloyd and Reifinger who finished with eight markers apiece. Paul (14) and Marshall (13) rounded out the primary scorers for the Cardinals.

Desroches netted a game-high 23 points for the Spartans and four other Castleton State players finished with at least 14.