KEENE, N.H.  1/10/09 - A strong second half enabled Keene State to post a 74-48 Little East Conference women's basketball victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

Nursing a six point lead at the break, the Owls outscored UMD 45-25 in the second half. After shooting just 35% in the first half, KSC improved its percentage to 55% in the second half. 

Junior guard Kristin Degou (Newburyport, Mass.) led the Owls with 18 points and seven rebounds.  Junior guard Alyssa Sapp (Hartford, Vt.) chipped in with 12 points and junior forward Jen Cleaveland (Newington, Conn.) finished with nine points and six rebounds.  

After a slow start, Keene State took a 29-23 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating three-point basket by freshman guard Sarah Laudano (North Haven, Conn.). The half featured seven ties and three lead changes. Degou had nine first half points for the Owls.   Junior forward Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, Mass.) topped the Corsairs with 10 points.

The Owls turned up the defensive pressure and saw their shots start to fall in the second half.  Keene State scored the first eight points coming out of the break. Freshman forward Courtney Cirillo (Winsor Locks, Conn.) stole the ball and fed a streaking Degou for a lay-up that put the Owls up 37-23.

A pair of lay-ups by senior forward Jenn Kenny (Salem, N.H.) and five straight points by Degou opened the Owls' lead to 24 points (54-30) with 11:20 to play.

UMD senior guard Vicki Andruszkiewicz (Danvers, Mass.) tied for team high honors with 18 points.  Sophomore forward Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, Mass.) had 12 points and a game high 13 rebounds, and Nelson finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.   

Winners of six straight, Keene State improves to 11-2 (2-1 LEC). The 1989-90 also began their season with the same mark.

UMass-Dartmouth, which has dropped nine straight games, falls to 2-10 (0-3 LEC).

Both teams have LEC games on Tuesday.  KSC hosts Western Conn. and UMass-Dartmouth travels to Eastern Conn.