KEENE, N.H. 11/19/10 – The Keene State College women's basketball team won its first game of the season, defeating Maine-Fort Kent 79-40 in an opening-round game of the KSC Adrenaline Circuit Tip-Off tournament at Spaulding Gym on Friday night.

                Keene State will host Utica College in Saturday's championship game at 3 p.m. Utica defeated Castleton State 68-49 in Friday's second game.  Castleton plays Maine-Fort Kent in the consolation game (1 p.m.)

                Playing their first home game of the season, the Owls (1-1) were led by juniors Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) and Sara Laudano (North Haven, Conn.).  Cirillo scored a game-high 15 points and Laudano finished with 12 points.  Junior Meghan Farrell (Chester, Vt.) had a team-high 10 rebounds for KSC, who played 14 of the 15 players dressed for the game.

                Junior Maliesha Caesar (Cayon, St. Kitts.) had 13 points and a game-high 18 rebounds to lead Maine Fort Kent (0-1).  Junior Megan land (Salinas, Ca.) added 12 points.

                The Owls scored the first 11 points of the game and took a 21-3 on back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Ashlee Moussette (Southampton, Mass.) and Laudano and a baseline jumper by Cirillo.  Keene Stated led 52-16 at halftime.

                The Owls shot 40% from the field (30-75), hit seven of its 20 three-point attempts (35%) and knocked down 12 of its 14 shots from the line (86%).  The Bengals, who hurt themselves with 25 turnovers, shot 23% from the field (12-53), 5-14 (36%) from behind the arc and 69% from the line (11-16).

                KSC, who had a 49-41 advantage off the glass, are shooting for its 13th straight tip-off tournament title.

                "It's nice to get our first game, but we have a long way to go," said Cirillo.  "We moved the ball around and got some good shots.  We're going to have a tougher test in the championship game."

                Utica College (2-0) advanced the championship game with a 68-49 win over Castleton State in the second first-round game.

                Senior All-America Jessica Berry (Rome, N.Y.), who hit nine of her 12 shots from the field, had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utica.   Sophomore Meghan Fiore (Epping, N.H.) also had a strong performance, hitting eight of her 10 attempts from the field on the way to finishing with 17 points.  Junior Katie McGee (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 11 points and six assists.

                Junior Vanessa Powers (Marshfield, Vt.) topped the Spartans with 17 points and five rebounds. Freshman Alyssa Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) also finished in double-figures with 10 points.

                Leading 13-11, the Pioneers outscored the Spartans 22-4 the rest of the half to take a 35-15 lead at the break.  Berry, who hit six of her seven shots from the field, had 13 first half points for Utica, who shot 60% (15-25) from the field. Utica, who advanced to the NCAA tournament last season, extended its leads to as many as 26 points (66-40) in the second half.    

                The Pioneers shot 57% from the field (29-51) in the game.