KEENE, N.H. 1/22/08 - Junior point guard Michele Boudreau (Readsboro, Vt.) scored 19 points and dished out five assists, sophomore guard Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.) returned to the line-up and had 16 points, and sophomore guard Alyssa Sapp (Hartford, Vt.) finished with 14 points to lead the Keene State College women's basketball team to a 80-62 victory over rival Plymouth State University at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.
 

Winners of nine of its last 10 games, Keene State improves to 11-5 and 4-2 in the LEC.  Plymouth State falls to 7-8 and 2-4 in conference play.
 

KSC Coach Keith Boucher said the Owls' strong defense created good scoring opportunities. "It's Plymouth State. We started out slow then we got going. Our shots started to fall and that breeds confidence," he said. "Our offense played well because our defense played well. We created some turnovers that resulted in baskets." 
  

The Owls outscored the Panthers 18-4 over the final 9:42 of the first half to take a 40-22 lead to the locker room.  Sapp scored 12 points and Boudreau had 11 points, including three baskets from behind the arc.  The Owls connected on six of their 11 three-point attempts in the half.
 

Keene State continued its hot shooting in the second half.  A lay-up by Jenn Kinney (Salem, N.H.) pushed the Owls' lead to 22 points (51-29) five minutes into the period.
 

Junior forward Kayla Morin (Pascoag, R.I.) scored 16 points and senior guard Lauren Daniels (Concord, N.H.) finished with 11 points and a game high 10 rebounds for the Panthers.
 

KSC out-rebounded PSU 46-31 and knocked down 17 of its 21 free throw attempts.
 

Keene State has won the last eight meetings between the two teams.
 

The Owls travel to Southern Maine on Saturday (1 p.m.) to face the LEC leading and 13th ranked Huskies.  Plymouth State is at Newbury College on Thursday (5 p.m.).