MIDDLEBURY, VT. 1/27/11 – Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) scored a game-high 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists for her seventh double-double of the season and Meghan Farrell (Chester, Vt.) pulled down a career best 16 rebounds to lead Keene State College to a 67-57 victory over Middlebury College in non-conference women's basketball action on Thursday night. 

Winners of four straight games for the first time this season, the Owls (10-9) handed the Panthers (12-4) their first home loss of the season. 

Keene State jumped out to an 8-2 on a basket by Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.)  before a 9-0 run gave Middlebury an  11-8 lead at the 11:32 mark. Keene State came back, going up by five (21-16) on a pair of free throws by Cirillo with 4:27 to go.  A late bucket from Middlebury's Scarlett Kirk gave the Panthers a 31-30 halftime lead.

"I wasn't happy with our defense so we had a meeting of the minds at halftime," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "We played much better in the second half and that was really the difference.  It was a great road win for us."

The Owls pulled away for good with just under 13 minutes to play. Up 41-40, KSC used an 8-2 run to take a 49-42 lead on a lay-up by Cirillo.  The Panthers cut the lead to four points (53-49), but the Owls responded with an 11-4 run to push the lead back up to 11 points (64-53) with 1:29 to play. 

"I thought we did a good job of moving the ball around and finding the open player," said Cirillo, who had seven of the Owls' 11 points in the decisive run. 

Asked about her career night on the boards, Farrell said "she was just trying to help the team anyway I can."  We're just trying to be more consistent."

Sara Laudano (North Haven, Conn.) who had 15 point and Carnell with 12 points also finished win double-figures for the Owls, who held Middlebury to 20% shooting (6-30) in the second half.    

Tracy Borsinger led Middlebury with 13; Lauren Sanchez added 12, while Maddie Moreau scored 11 with seven boards. Stephany Surrette grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in the game.

"We are who we are, but we're starting to play better as a team and not making as many mistakes," said Boucher. 

Keene State is at Southern Maine for a Little East Conference game on Saturday.