KEENE, N.H. 1/28/10 -  Senior guard Kristin Degou (Newburyport, Mass.) scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds in just 19 minutes of play, leading the hot-shooting Keene State College women's basketball team to a 82-48 non-conference victory over Middlebury College at Spaulding Gym on Thursday night. 

Keene State improves to 12-6 while Middlebury, who  has dropped four of its last five games, falls to 9-8.

Unlike Tuesday night's game against Plymouth State, the ball was falling for the Owls.  "What a difference a couple of days makes," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "It comes from confidence.  A couple of players hit shots and everyone else is thinking that there shot is going to go.  It's contagious.  Hopefully, we can build on this with a big stretch of conference games coming up."

The Owls came out on fire, hitting 19 of their 32 shots from the field (59%) and 8 of 13 (62%) from behind the arc on the way to opening up a 49-16 halftime lead.  Leading 16-10, KSC went on a 16-2 run to go up 32-12 on a jumper by sophomore guard Meghan Farrell (Chester, Vt.) at the 8:02 mark.  Farrell made the defensive play of the game, chasing down the Panthers' Lauren Sanchez from behind and swatting away her lay-up attempt in the closing seconds of the half.

Degou, who knocked down four of her five three-point attempts, finished the half with 16 points.

The Owls kept the pedal to the metal in the second half, going up 60-20 a conventional three-point play by senior forward Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.) with 14:21 to play.  

Sophomore guard Sara Laudano (North Haven, Conn), who connected on four of her six three-pointers, and senior forward Jen Cleaveland (Newington, Conn.) each finished with 12 points.  Freshman forward Ann Kelsey (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) also had seven rebounds.  KSC finished the game, hitting 12 of its 19 three-point attempts (63%).

Sanchez had 12 points for the Panthers, whom struggled from the field, hitting 17 of 61 shots from the field (27%), 1 of 7 (14%) from three-point land, and 13 of 21 (62%) from the line.

Keene State and Middlebury return to league play on Saturday.  The Owls host Southern Maine  (1 p.m.) and the Panthers take on Williams (2 p.m.).