KEENE, N.H. 2/15/05 - Stacey Morse (Lebanon, N.H.) had 12 points, including a key three-point shot late in the game to lead Keene State College to a 64-61 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference women's basketball game played Tuesday night at Spaulding Gym.

With the victory Keene State (14-10, 8-5 LEC) secures the third seed in the upcoming LEC tournament. It was the Owls first win over the Warriors since the 1999-00 season, a span that included nine games.

"We've been so close, yet so far away from getting a quality win, " said KSC Coach Keith Boucher. " I thought we played with a lot of intensity and focus for 40 minutes tonight."

The Owls outscored the Warriors 10-2 over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 34-26 lead at the break. Bekka Hopkins (Oxford, Mass.) had eight first half points for KSC while Sarah McDonald (Weymouth, Mass.) also had eight points for ECSU.

After Morse hit a basket to give KSC a 39-30 lead, ECSU cut the deficit to two points (39-37) on a lay-up by Sandy Mosley (Goshen, Conn.) at the 13:52 mark. KSC pulled ahead later in the half. A 9-4 run capped by a free throw by Danielle Graveley (Schenectady, N.Y.) gave the Owls a 57-49 lead with 5:39 to play.

With time winding down on the shot clock, Morse connected with a three-pointer at the top of the key to make it 61-56 with just over a minute to go. A driving lay-up by McDonald made it a two point game (62-60) with 38 seconds to play. ECSU got the ball back with 13 seconds to play when KSC couldn't get off a shot before the 30-second shot clock expired.

McDonald was fouled and made one free throw to make it 62-61 with 3.6 second to go. Bri Barnes (Merrimack, N.H.), who pulled down the missed second shot was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to give KSC the victory.

"It was a big win for us," said Morse, who hit just her third three-pointer of her career. "We didn't want to let Cathy down."

The only senior on the KSC roster, Cathy Mechare, a senior from Falls Village, Conn. was honored prior to the start of KSC final home regular season game.

Hopkins scored 11 points, Mary Crawford (Mt. Holly, Vt.) added eight points, and Sarah Begnoche (Millville, Mass.) finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Katie Kline (North Brookfield, Mass.) and McDonald each finished with 16 points to lead the Warriors (15-9, 9-4 LEC).

KSC concludes its regular season on the road at R.I. College on Saturday (1 p.m.).