'DANBURY.CT 1/14/03 –  The Keene State College women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 75-67 Little East Conference victory over Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT, on Tuesday.

Keene State improves to 9-4 overall and evens its conference record at 2-2.  Western CT goes to 5-8 and 2-2 in LEC play.

Andrea Arsenault (Dover, N.H.) had 18 points to lead the Owls.  Hayley Alaimo (Ellington, CT) with 14 points and Stacey Morse (Lebanon, N.H.) with 11 points also scored in double figures for KSC.  Julie Tardif (Atkinson, N.H.) topped the Owls with eight rebounds to go along with her eight points.

Trailing 37-31 at halftime, Keene State went ahead for good with just under eight minutes to play on a three-pointer by Tardif that put the Owls up 57-54. KSC pushed their lead up to nine (67-58) on a lay up by Morse with 4:55 to play.

"We executed our press better in the second half and wore them down, " said KSC coach Keith Boucher.  I though we got some strong defensive play from Alaimo and Brittany Faulkner. "The Owls strong defense led to 31 turnovers by WCSU.

Recently joining the team, Faulkner (Lebanon, N.H.), a freshman transfer from Bryant College, scored eight points and had five assists in 25 minutes of playing time.

Kristie Brickner had a game high 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Colonels, which upset Plymouth State on Saturday.

Keene State travels to UMA-Dartmouth on Saturday for a 1 p.m. LEC game.

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