KEENE, N.H.  1/26/12 – The Keene State College women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 63-45 non-conference victory over Middlebury College at Spaulding Gym on Thursday night.

            Senior Sara Laudano (North Haven, Conn.) led the Owls (12-5) with 17 points while fellow senior Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) just missed her fourth consecutive double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.  Senior Meghan Farrell (Chester, Vt.) also pulled down eight rebounds.

            Sophomore Scarlett Kirk (San Francisco, Ca.) scored 16 points to lead the Panthers (5-12) while senior Maddie Moreau (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) had nine points.

            The Owls used a late 11-0 run to pull ahead of the Panthers in the first half.  Cirillo had six of the points on lay-ups set up by nice feeds into the post by freshman Rachael Brucks (Suwannee, Geo.), who had six assists in the first half. 

            The two teams traded three-pointers in the closing seconds of the half.  Senior Brittany Perfetti (Clifton Heights, Pa.) connected for Middlebury with 14 seconds to go and freshman Nikki Stacy (Uxbridge, Mass.) answered with a three-ball from the left side as time expired to give KSC a 31-21 lead at the half.  "I saw their player run away from me, so I yelled for the ball, said Stacy, who played a season high 20 minutes and finished with eight points. "I shot it and it went in."

            Keene State went ahead by 13 points three and a half minutes in to the second half on a three-pointer by Laudano. "I haven't been shooting too well, so I've been trying to focus on my defense and I think that's helped my offense," said Laudano. "We had some steals a few blocked shots and we were able to get some points in transition."

            "When we all talk, we all hustle and good things are bound to happen," said Stacey.

            Middlebury cut into Keene State's lead midway in the second half.  A lay-up by senior Stephany Surrette (Worcester, Mass.) made it 47-40 at the 9:34 mark.

            The Owls took over from there, using a 12-1 run, capped off by a jumper by Stacy that put KSC up by 18 (59-41) with 5:16 to play.

            Keene State shot 33% from the field (20-61) while Middlebury was 14-48 (29%).  The Panthers had a slight 41-37 edge off the glass.

KSC Coach Keith Boucher was pleased with the play of his freshmen, Brucks, Stacy, and Sarah Phelan (Northbridge, Mass.), who had three blocks and a steal in the game. "Nikki comes into a game and does something both offensively and defensively to get us going, Rachael made a lot of nice feeds in the post, and Sarah did a nice job of banging their big people.  That's the unsung thing that people don't see," said Boucher.  "Freshmen will do some really funny things and they'll do some really good things."

            Both Stacy and Phelan got extended playing time in the game for the Owls. "Every day I just go in the gym and try to work hard and when I get on the court, I try to show what I can do," said Stacy. 

            "Nothing beats experience, so it's good to get it especially as a freshman," Phelan added.  

            The Owls return to Little East play on Saturday (1 p.m.) when they host UMass-Boston.  "We have to keep building.  We still have things we need to work on to  improve," said Laudano.