TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's basketball team got 20 points and 10 rebounds from junior Sarah Wetmore and the Engineers defeated Keene State, 66-50, in the season opener for both teams.  Wetmore (Sudbury, MA / Lincoln Sudbury Regional), a guard who missed last season due to an injury, had six offensive rebounds and added an assist in her 36 minutes of action.

RPI trailed by six points (29-23) at halftime and by as many as 10 (33-23) early in the second half before rallying to the 16-point victory.  The Engineers forced 16 turnovers with eight steals, while holding the Owls to 38.1% (8 for 21 shooting) in the second frame.  Wetmore had nine points and five rebounds, while senior guard Lauren Hayes (Rensselaer, NY / Columbia) scored 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. She was 3 for 6 from three-point range.

"They started making some shots and were able to start pressing us and wore us down," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "We need to rebound better and we turned the ball over too much."

"When RPI made its run in the second half, we started to get a little flustered and we weren't as focused as we were in the first half," said junior guard Sara Laudano (North Haven, Ct.).  We're very young and this is our first game playing together, so we made some mistakes that can easily be corrected."

Overall, Hayes finished with 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.  Senior guard Linda Larsen (Kobenhavn V., Denmark / Himmelev) added 10 points and freshman Kyleigh Oliveira (Agawam, MA / Agawam) had eight points and five rebounds in her collegiate debut.

For Keene State, Laudano had team-bests of 17 points and 11 rebounds, including 10 on the defensive end.  Freshman guard Emily Winskowicz (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet) added 12 points and nine rebounds, including 10 points and seven rebounds in the first half.  Junior Meghan Farrell (Chester, VT/Green Mountain) also reached double digits, scoring 12 points with six rebounds.

Both teams played strong defensively throughout the contest, with RPI shooting 31.5% from the field (23 of 73) and Keene State making 32.7% (18 of 55) of its baskets.  The Engineers forced 25 turnovers with nine steals, while the Owls forced 16 turnovers with seven steals.

"We're young and going to make mistakes," Boucher said. "Hopefully as the season goes along it's going to get better."

Keene State plays Maine-Fort Kent on Friday at 3 pm in the Owls' Tip Off Tourney.