Championship Game:  Keene State 84    Univ. of New England 47

KEENE, N.H. 11/22/09 - Keene State women's basketball coach Keith Boucher wasn't happy with his teams' performance in its opening round win over Regis College on Friday.  On Saturday, the Owls brought a smile to their coaches' face with a dominating 84-47 victory over the University of New England in the championship game of the 14th Annual KSC Tip-Off tournament at Spaulding Gym.

"I was just disappointed yesterday. When your team has a certain set of skills, you want them to perform that way every time.  And the great thing about today was they did it for two solid halfs" said Boucher.  "The seniors felt just as bad about the way we played as I did.  That's leadership."  

Off to a 3-0 start this season, the Owls have claimed 13 of the 14 Tip-Off Tournament titles.

The Owls scored the first 18 points of the game. Freshman point guard Amber Alberto (Waterbury, Conn.) had seven of her 11 first half points in the run, including a follow-up shot that made it 18-0 at the 13:22 mark.

"I think the seniors on the team boost my motivation to play as a senior," said Alberto, who finished with a game high 24 points (11 for 16 from the field) and was named to the All-Tournament team.  "I feel like I've been playing here for four years." 

Freshman guard Katie Ziemnik (Oswego, Ill.) stopped the Owls' run with a lay-up at the 13:02. UNE cut the Owls' lead to 10 (21-11) on a baseline three-point basket by Ziemnik with 9:05 to go in the half.

The Owls regroups with a 19-6 run to go back up by 23 points (40-17) before heading into the locker room with a 40-21 lead. The Owls hit four of their three-pointers and 12 of its 14 attempts from the line in the half.

"We came out with a lot of energy and it was our defense that fueled our offense, said Kristin Degou, who filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three blocks and steals to earn tournament MVP honors.

Keene State kept the pedal to the metal in the second half.  Following a steal by senior Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.), Degou hit a jumper to make it 55-25 at the 16 minute mark and Alberto made a lay-up to give Keene State a 63-30 lead with 12:01 to play.

Simmler broke out of her early season funk with a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Sophomore guard Sara Laudano (West Haven, Conn.) also earned a spot on the All-Tournament team with 12 points.

KSC knocked down 10 of its 18 shots form behind the arc and 16 of 18 attempts from the line.  

Ziemnik had 11 points to lead the Nor'easters (3-1), who dropped their first game of the season.

 Consolation Game:   SUNY-Cobleskill 73    Regis College 62

Junior guard Nichole Garzon (Bayside Hills, N.Y.) had a game high 30 points to lead SUNY-Cobleskill (2-1) to a 73-62 victory over Regis College (2-2) in the consolation game of the 14th Annual Keene State College Tip-Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym

The Fighting Tigers never trailed in the first half as Garzon scored17 points of her 30 points to stake SUNY Cobleskill to a 39-27 lead at the break.

Regis College fought back in the second-half, cutting the deficit to two points on two occasions (53-51), the last time coming with 9:03 remaining on a lay-up from sophomore guard Stephanie Crawford (Rockland, Mass.).  

SUNY Cobleskill extended its lead back up to 11 (67-56) on a three-pointer by Garzon and a pair of free throws by freshman forward Kaitlin Myers (Dannemora, N.Y.) with 3:39 remaining.

Sophomore forward Chelcy Moore (Albany, N.Y.) finished with a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Tigers while sophomore guard Heidi Anderson (Canajoharie, N.Y.) added 10 points.

Crawford, who hit 11 of her 12 attempts from the line, led Regis with 26 points. Junior forward Brittany White (Dorchester, Mass.) also finished in double figures with 10 points. Junior forward Sarah McNult (Hampstead, N.H.) led the Pride with 10 rebounds.

Three-point shooting was a key.  Cobleskill connected on half (seven-for-14) of its attempts while Regis hit just one of its 16 attempts (6.3%).

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP:              Kristin Degou             Keene State                    

                     Sara Laudano              Keene State

                      Amber Alberto            Keene State

                        Katie Diggins              UNE

                        Kelley Paradis             UNE

                        Nichole Garzon           SUNY-Cobleskill

                        Stephanie Crawford    Regis College