GORHAM, Maine  - The Keene State women's basketball team began its Little East Conference schedule with a 61-47 loss to the University of Southern Maine at Hill Gymnasim on Saturday.

               Sophomore guard Kaylie DeMillo (Jay, Maine) scored a team-high 18 points to lead three players in double figures for the nationally-ranked Huskies.

                With the win, Southern Maine remains undefeated and improves to 6-0 overall and begins its LEC season with a 1-0 mark.  Suffering their second straight loss, the Owls drop to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the LEC.

                DeMillo knocked down a trio of three-pointers and finished the game shooting 6-for-12 from the field to lead the Huskies with 18 points.  The 5-7 guard added four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.  Senior guard Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Academy) tossed in 17 points on a 7-for-13 mark from the floor and junior forward Haley Johnson (West Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) notched her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. 

                Keene State junior forward Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.) led the Owls with 18 points and 10 rebounds.  Simmler was 7-for-12 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range.  Senior guard Michele Boudreau (Readsboro, Vt./Drury) was the only other Owl player in double figures chipping in with 10 points. 

                The Huskies were able to overcome a shaky shooting effort and a sub-par mark from the free throw line to defeat the Owls.  Southern Maine shot 38.6 percent (22-for-57) from the field and connected on just 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) from the charity stripe.  However, the Owls also struggled to zero in on the basket shooting just 27.0 percent (17-for-63) from the floor and 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from the free throw line.

                Tied at five points each through the first three minutes of action, USM strung together a 13-0 run to lead the Owls 18-5 with 11:39 left in the first half and cruised the rest of the way en route to the win.  A pair of DeMillo baskets served as bookends to the run.  DeMillo keyed the run sinking a three and then put away a layup off an assist from Kent to close out the scoring spurt.  Kent and Johnson each chipped in with four points in the run.

                Keene State chipped into the USM lead to bring it to less than ten points four times during the half, but each time the Huskies answered with a timely score.  A pair of Simmler free throws with 19 seconds remaining trimmed the USM margin to 31-22, but DeMillo banked home a long three pointer as time expired for a 34-22 Husky lead at the break.

                In the second half KSC pulled to within five of USM, 47-42, with 9:43 on the clock on the heels of a 9-2 run. Trailing 45-33 with 14:03 to play, the Owls received baskets from four different players, including a three from Simmler.   After a short jumper from Kent, the Owls ran off six consecutive points from Degou, freshmen guards Amanda Bacher (Concord, N.H./New Hampton Prep) and Sarah Laudano (North Haven, Conn./North Haven) to pull to within two possession of USM.  However, Southern Maine's Kent slammed the door shut on any thought of Keene State comeback when she hit a three from the left side.  USM scored the game's next six points following Kent's three to regain a 14-point edge, with 4:03 to play and never led by less than 11 for the remainder of the game.

                Southern Maine returns to action on Wednesday (7:00 p.m.) when it plays traditional rival Salem State College in a non-conference game.  Keene State is in action on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) when it travels to Rhode Island College for a Little East Conference game.

(Courtesy USM Sports Information)