KEENE, N.H. 2/21/04 - Freshman forward Sarah Begnoche (Millville, Mass.) had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Keene State College women's basketball team to a 68-63 Little East Conference victory over Rhode Island College before a Senior Day crowd of 600 at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

With the victory, Keene State (11-13, 6-8 LEC) secured the fifth seed in the upcoming LEC Tournament and will travel to fourth seed UMass-Dartmouth for a first round game on Tuesday (7 p.m.).  RIC (15-10, 7-7 LEC) will hold onto the third seed with UMD's loss to Southern Maine on Saturday.  The Anchorwomen will host Western Conn. in a quarterfinal contest (TBA).

Playing in her final home regular-season game, senior guard Courtney Clarke (Trenton, N.J.) scored 12 first-half points.  Clarke's free throw gave KSC its biggest lead, nine points (32-23) with 3:36 to play in the half.

 Rhode Island College came back to close the gap to six points at the break.  Junior Heather Pettigrew (Cranston, R.I.) had eight first-half points for the Anchorwomen.

KSC, which led by as many as 13 points  (46-33) in the second half, utilized strong defensive play down the stretch to hold off RIC. 

A pair of free throws by Liz Shields (Warwick, R.I.) cut the Owls' lead to just four points (62-58) with 2:17 to play.  A steal Cathy Mechare (Falls Village, Conn.) resulted into a couple of free throws by Begnoche to push the lead back up to six.   On the next possession, the Owls forced a turnover and Begnoche hit a lay-up to give KSC an eight point (66-58) cushion. 

"I was very pleased with our defensive effort," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "At the end of the game the clock was our ally.  We made some careless fouls, but we were able to hang on for the win."

Clarke finished with 13 points, and Bekka Hopkins (Oxford, Mass.) and Mechare added 10 points each to lead the Owls.

Pettigrew had a game-high 18 points and freshman forward Kari Geisler (Derry, N.H.) had 10 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for RIC.

KSC seniors Andrea Arsenault (Dover, N.H.), who finished with eight points and five rebounds, and twins Courtney and Shannon Clarke, a student assistant coach, were honored prior to the game.

Rhode Island College defeated Keene State 68-65 earlier this season in Providence.