KEENE, N.H.  2/24/09  - Junior guard Kristin Degou (Newburyport, Mass.) had a game high 21 points to lead the fourth seeded Keene State College women's basketball team to a 66-50 victory over fifth seed and rival Plymouth State in a quarterfinal Little East Conference tournament game at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.

Keene State (20-6) will travel to Eastern Conn. on Friday to face the top seeded Warriors.  ECSU defeated eighth seed UMass-Dartmouth 60-40 in its opening-round game. 

Trailing 8-7, Keene State went on a mini nine point run to go up 16-8 on a top of the key three-pointer by senior guard Michele Boudreau (Readsboro, Vt.).

The Panthers cut the Owls lead to four points on two occasions.  Junior guard Kalie Judd (Peabody, Mass.) drove the lane and fed senior forward Kayla Morin (Pasoag, R.I.) for a lay-up to make it 26-22 with 1:02 to go in the half.

In the closing minute, Degou knocked down a three-pointer and freshman forward Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) hit a pair of free throws to send KSC to the locker room with a 31-22 lead.

Both teams shot well from the line in the half.  Keene State connected on 10 of 11 shots while the Panthers hit all six of their attempts.

The Owls maintained their lead early in the second half. A three-pointer by Boudreau made it 38-26 at the 15:20 mark. 

KSC had several timely steals in the game. Following a steal in the backcourt by Boudreau, one of her six in the game, junior guard Alyssa Sapp (Hartford, Vt.) hit a three-pointer.  Degou drained another three-point basket in KSC's next possession to put them up 51-35 with 5:50 to play.  

The pesky Panthers cut the Owls lead to 55-47 after sophomore forward Amanda Kania (Manchester, N.H.) hit all three free throws after being fouled taking a shot behind the arc.  Junior forward Laura Kent (Bellingham, Mass.) made one of two shots from the line to make it 55-48 with 3:23 to play.

Junior forward Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.) pushed the Owls lead back up to nine points (57-48) after hitting a pair from the line.  Degou followed with a hoop and then hit two free throws to give KSC a 60-48 lead with 1:29 to play. 

"I thought we executed well offensively in critical times," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "Kristin hits some good shots. We set some good screens to open up our shooters."

"I think we came around in the second half and did a good job," said Degou, who hit all nine of her shots from the line.  "I was just fortunate to get open looks. My teammates set great screens and I was able to hit my shots."

Degou finished with six rebounds and four assists to go with her 21 points.  Junior forward Jen Cleaveland (Newington, Conn.) had 12 points and Sapp finished with 11 points for the Owls, who notched their second 20-win season in Division III. They tied the program record with 22 in 2006-07.Simmler had a game high eight rebounds.

Kania had a team high 15 points for Plymouth, which drops to 16-10 and awaits a possible ECAC tournament berth.  Morin had 10 points and freshman forward Alicia Doucet pulled down seven rebounds. 

Keene State has faced Plymouth State in the LEC quarterfinals four out of the past five years.  The Owls, who have won the last 11 meetings between the two teams, have won all four of those games.