Providence, RI- Senior guard Michelle Boudreau (Readsboro, VT) drained five first-half three-pointers to help lead Keene State past Rhode Island College, 70-53, in Little East Conference women's basketball action at The Murray Center.

RIC falls to 4-6 overall and 1-1 in the LEC, while the Owls improve to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Boudreau finished with a team-high 17 points, to go along with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior forward Jen Cleaveland (Newington, CT) logged 14 points and six boards. Junior forward Nicole Simmler (Oxford, MA) and classmate guard Kristin Degou (Newburyport, MA) chipped in with 10 points each.

Keene State jumped out to a 6-0 lead to open the game and built a 10-point advantage, 15-5, on a Boudreau trey with 14:31 left on the clock. A junior forward Cassi Malec (Glocester, RI) three-pointer and back-to-back buckets by freshman guard Stephanie Coro (North Providence, RI) paced an 11-1 run by RIC to tie the game, 16-16, with 10:34 remaining. Senior guard Michelle McNamee (Warwick, RI) nailed two free throws to give RIC its only lead of the game, 24-22, three minutes later.

The Owls closed out the half, which was keyed by five points from Simmler and two more Boudreau tifectas, on a 19-6 run to take a 41-28 lead into halftime.

Degou scored eight of the Owls first 12 points in the second half to push their lead to a game-high 23 points, 55-32, and the Anchorwomen never got closer than 12 points down the stretch.

Coro led the Anchorwomen with 17 points, while Malec contributed 12 points and six boards.

Simmler nearly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.

Both clubs are off until we ring in the New Year. Keene State hosts York College (NY) at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2 in the opener of the KSC Holiday Tournament. Rhode Island College will resume action on Tuesday, Jan. 6 when it hosts Brandeis.

 Courtesy of Rhode Island College Sports Information