BOSTON, MA - The Keene State College women's basketball team held host University of Massachusetts Boston to just 15 points on 17.9% (5-28) shooting in the second half, en-route to a 53-40 victory today in a Little East Conference contest at the Clark Athletic Center on the UMass Boston campus. The Beacons fall to 8-17 overall and 3-11 in LEC play, while the Owls improve to 15-10 and 7-7 in the regular season finale for both teams.

The Owls were already locked into the fourth spot in the LEC standings and will host fifth seed Rhode Island College in a fiirst-round tournament game at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night (5:30 p.m.). KSC and RIC split their two regular season games, with the Owls winning in Keene (65-51) and the Anchorwomen prevailing 66-64 in an overtime game played in Providence.

UMass Boston owned a 35-34 edge with 12:27 showing in the second half, before Keene State went on a suffocating 15-1 run, fueled by six points from sophomore forward Nicole Simmler (Oxford, MA), to take a 49-36 lead with 4:05 to play in the game. Freshman forward Norma Cumbee (Malden, MA) made a pair of free throws and freshman point guard Stephanie Vasquez (Salem, MA) converted a lay-up to pull the Beacons to within 49-40 with 3:15 remaining in the contest, but that would be as close as they would get as the Owls scored the game's final four points.

UMass Boston took a 16-9 lead with 9:59 left in the opening half, before Keene State went on a 12-2 stretch, paced by eight points from sophomore guard Kristin Degou (Newburyport, MA) and capped by a three-pointer from junior guard Michelle Boland (Worcester, MA), to take a 21-18 margin with 6:03 to play in the first half. The Beacons answered with seven unanswered points, capped by a trifecta from senior point guard Ashley Greene (Brookline, MA) to give them a 25-21 lead with 2:51 showing on the first half clock. UMass Boston took a 25-23 lead into the intermission.

The Owls netted the first seven points of the second half to take a 30-25 advantage with 17:26 to go in the second stanza, but the Beacons shot back with a 10-4 burst, including a pair of three-pointers from Vasquez to give them a 35-34 edge.

Vasquez finished with 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench to lead UMass Boston in addition to two steals, an assist and a pair of rebounds, while senior guard Myrna Tangar (Randolph, MA) grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, for the third time this season, and added eight points and three assists. Junior forward Leanne Meninger (Everett, MA) chipped in with six points on 3-6 from the floor to go with three rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Simmler recovered from a tough shooting start to score a game-high 13 points, while grabbing eight rebounds and making a game-high five steals for Keene State. Junior forward Jenn Kinney (Salem, NH) nearly posted a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in addition to two assists and two steals, while Degou was a rebound shy of a double-double as well with 10 points and nine rebounds and added four assists and a pair of steals.

The Beacons will be in action again on Tuesday, February 26 when they travel to Willimantic, CT as the number seven seed in the quarterfinals of the Little East Conference tournament to take on second-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University.

(Courtesy UMB Sports Information)