Box Score DANBURY, Conn. 1/11/11 – The Keene State College women's basketball team fell to the No. 18 Western Conn. State Colonials 70-51 on Tuesday night at the O'Neil Athletic Center in Little East Conference play. With the loss the Owls drop to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play, while the Colonials, who are ranked 18th in the latest USA Today/ESPN (WBCA) Division III Women's Basketball Poll, improve to 12-1 and 4-0 in league action.
Junior Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) had a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds for KSC in the loss. Sophomore Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) was the only other Owl in double-figures with 15 points.
West Conn., who had four of their five starters hit double figures, were led by Karli Spera's (Waterford, Conn.) 15 points. Stephanie Slonski (Griswold, Conn.) and Heather Lee (Seymour, Conn.) each netted 12 points, while Melissa Teel (Hamden, Conn.) finished the contest with 10 points in the Colonial victory. Lee, Teel, and freshman Sciarra Brandt (Thomaston, CT) each pulled down seven rebounds for WestConn.
WestConn rushed out to an 8-2 lead after three minutes of play, but Keene State quickly battled back to even the score at 11-11 on a three point basket from freshman guard Ashlee Moussette (Southampton, Mass.) with 14:52 in the first period.
The Colonials regained control with a 10-2 run for a 21-13 lead, but the Owls again responded to draw within three points at the 9:40 mark.
Back to back threes by Lee and Spera pushed the WestConn lead to 34-23 with under a minute to play, and after a layup by Cirillo, sophomore Nicole Eanniello (Danbury, CT) buried a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded ending the first half to give WestConn a 37-25 lead going into the locker room at intermission.
Keene State opened the second half by drawing the third foul on WestConn's Teel and closed the gap to 10 when Carnell hit both free throws. After Spera completed a three-point play to put WestConn up 40-27, the Colonials went scoreless over the next four minutes and Keene State narrowed the gap to seven, 40-33 on a pair of free throws from Cirillo.
A three by Slonski put WestConn back up by 10, and the Colonials still held a 10-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining. A Lee three sparked another WestConn run and the Colonials pulled away down the stretch to win by the final margin of 70-51.
For the game, WestConn had a 43-34 advantage in rebounds and 21-8 edge in assists. The Colonials finished the game shooting 42.1% from the floor and 76.9% from the line, while Keene State shot 29.1% and 75.0% respectively.
Keene State returns home for the first time since December 11th this Thursday, as they will face off against Worcester State at 6 p.m. West Conn. will travel to Mount St. Mary's in Newburgh, N.Y. on Thursday night.
(Courtesy West Conn. Sports Information)
