KEENE, N.H. 12/31/12 – Junior A.J. Guidi (Derry, N.H.) broke a 67-all tie with a three-pointer with 51 seconds to play and River University went to post a 72-67 come-from-behind victory over the Keene State College women's basketball team in an opening-round game of the KSC Holiday tournament at Spaulding Gym on Monday.

The loss overshadowed a career-high 23 point performance by Owl sophomore Christan Wojtas (Amherst, N.H.), who knocked down seven of her 11 shots from behind the arc, two shy of the school record of nine set by Mary Nesbit against Sacred Heart University back on Feb. 4, 1989.

Leading by as many as 12 points in the second half, the Owls couldn't hold off the Raiders. "It's been our problem all year.  We can't sustain our effort," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "We'trying to make a committment to consistency and right now it's just not happening." 

Salve Regina University defeated Colby College 63-60 in the second opening-round game.  Keene State (3-6), which has dropped six of its last seven games, will face Colby (4-5) in Tuesday's consolation game at 1 p.m.  Salve Regina (2-6) will go up against River (7-3) in the championship game at 3 p.m.

Keene State made 13 three-pointers, just two shy of the school record set against Longwood (Va.) College on Dec. 18, 1988, but struggled at the line, hitting just four of 11 attempts (36%).  Meanwhile, River was 28-35 from the line (80%).

The Owls first three baskets came from behind the arc with sophomores Rachel Brucks (Suwanee, Geo,) Wojtas and freshman Ryanne Williams (Norwell, Mass.) hitting three-pointers to give Keene State an early 9-2 lead.

Making her KSC debut, freshman transfer Kelsey Cognetta (Stamford, Conn.) knocked down her first shot, a three-pointer to give the Owls a 23-13 lead.  Taking the ball down court after making a steal, Williams fed sophomore Nikki Stacy (Uxbridge, Mass.) for a lay-up to give KSC its largest lead of the half (35-13) with 7:30 to go.   

The Raiders scored the last seven points of the half to tie the game at 31-all at the break.

Wojtas continued her hot-shooting from behind the arc in the second half. Her sixth three-pointer put KSC up 52-40 at the 13:50 mark.

Rivier took its first lead of the half (65-64) on a lay-up by Guidi with 2:41 to play.

Senior Shiobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) hit one of two free throws to tie the game (65-all) with 2:19 to go.

Sophomore Deanna Purcell (Hudson, N.H.) made it 67-65 with a couple free throws with 2:06 to play.  Wojtas answered with a base-line jumper that tied the game at 67-all with 50 seconds left on the clock.

After Guidi put the Raiders up 70-67 with her three-pointer, KSC had a chance to cut the lead to one point, but Cognetta missed a lay-up.

Guidi and junior Ryan Baker (Whitinsville, Mass.) hit free throws in the final seconds of play to account for the final score.

Brucks scored nine points to go along with a career high eight assists and Williams finished with seven points and eight rebounds for the Owls. 

Purcell tied for game high honors with 23 points and Guidi finished with 22 points and seven rebounds for Rivier.  Purcell was 11-12 from the line.  Baker also scored in double figures with 12 points, going 7-8 from the charity stripe.

Keene State shot 37% from the field (25-67) and 13-28 (46%) from behind the arc. The Raiders shot 33% from the field (18-54) and 8-29 from three-point land (28%).

In the second game, Salve Regina went to the locker room with a slim 30-29 lead following a first half that featured seven ties and four lead changes.

Junior Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) led a balanced offense with a game high 16 points to lead Salve Regina to a victory over Colby.

The game was decided in the final minutes of play.  Freshman Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) found Pendergast down low for a lay-up to put the Seahawks up 56-50 with 5:24 to play.

Colby cut the lead to two points (59-57) on a three-pointer by freshman Carylanne Wolfington (Hallowell, Me) with 1:46 to go. Harden hit a lay-up to put Salve Regina up 61-57.  Senior Jacky McLaughlin (Medfield, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer from the right baseline to cut the lead to one point (61-60) with 14 seconds on the clock. 

Fouled in the backcourt, sophomore Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) hit two free throws to push the Seahawks lead up to 63-60 with 5.4 seconds to play.

Looking to tie the game, senior Diana Manduca (Portland, Me.) launched a three-point shot from four feet behind the arc, but her shot hit off the rim. 

In addition to Pendergast, four other players scored in double figures for the Seahawks.  Harden had 14 points to go with seven rebounds, sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) scored 13 points, and senior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) chipped with 11 points.

McLaughlin had 15 points and Wolfington finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to lead the Mules.  Manduca also had 14 points for Colby.

Salve Regina shot 42% from the field (22-53), just 22% from behind the arc (2-9) and 17-22 (77%) from the line.

Colby was 23-57 (40%) from the field, connected on nine of 23 shots from three-point land (39%) and was 5-10 (50%) from the line.