KEENE, N.H. 12/4/04- Sophomore guard Bri Barnes (Merrimack, N.H.) led five players in double figures with a season-high 21 points to lead the Keene State College women's basketball team to a 90-53 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Spaulding Gym on Saturday. It was the conference opener for both teams.

Freshman guard Danielle Gravely (Schenectady, N.Y.) connected on seven-of -eight shots for a season best 17 points. Mary Crawford (Mount Holly, Vt.) and Bekka Hopkins (Oxford, Mass.) each finished with 12 points and Stacey Morse (Lebanon, N.H.) added 11 points for the Owls. Barnes also had a team-high seven rebounds and six assists.

Keene State, which rebounded from a poor showing against Amherst College on Wednesday, improves to 4-1 (1-0 LEC) while UMD drops to 2-3 (0-1 LEC).

"When you play very good defense, you create good scoring opportunities," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher. "We redeemed ourselves. It's nice know we can bounce back."

"I thought it was a total team effort," said Barnes. "We wanted to come out and make a statement with a solid first conference game."

The Owls gradually pulled away from the Corsairs on the way to building up a commanding 42-19 halftime lead. Barnes who led KSC with 10 first half points, hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to help KSC to its 23 point advantage. The Owls hit seven of 13 shots beyond the arc in the half.

KSC extended its lead in the second half. Taking a court-long pass from Cathy Mechare (Falls Village, Conn.), Morse hit a lay up and then connected on a pair of technical foul shots to make it 59-29.

Kerri Augenstein (East Greenwich, Conn.) had 10 points to lead the Corsairs.

Keene State hosts Williams College on Tuesday (7 p.m.).