TROY, N.Y.12/4/12  – Senior Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) scored a career high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Keene State College women's basketball team from dropping a 83-68 non-conference game to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at the East Campus Arena on Tuesday night.

"The record doesn't matter much to me, but It's something positive I can take out of the game," said Carnell.  "I tried to draw contact and go out strong with the ball."    

It was the fourth straight loss for the Owls (2-4) while RPI improves to 6-2.

Sarah Wetmore scored 17 points and RPI made nine three-pointers on its way to the win. Wetmore(Sudbury, Mass.) , a graduate student, made three field goals and 11 free throws (12 attempts) to lead the Engineers. She also had a team-high six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

While Wetmore did not make any baskets from behind the arc, seven of her teammates did, including sophomore Courtney Roberts (San Diego, CA ), who was 3 for 3. As a team the Engineers connected on 56.3% (9 of 16) of their attempts, including 6 of 10 in the first half.

It was free throw shooting and three-point success that helped RPI pull out of a 10-1 deficit five minutes into the game. The visiting Owls controlled the offensive boards to build their nine-point margin. Carnell had eight points and two offensive rebounds (3 total) to start the game, while junior Carly Kiernan (Topsfield, Mass.)  had two points and six offensive boards (7 total). Christan Wojtas (Amherst, NH) added two offensive rebounds in that span.

The Engineers went on to score 19 of the next 27 points – 10 on free throws – to take a 20-18 lead with 8:03 remaining in the first half. It was a Reynolds three-pointer that gave RPI the lead, which it would not relinquish. Rensselaer led by seven at halftime, 42-35.

After RPI built a 14-point lead midway through the second half, Keene pulled back to within seven points, but could not get any closer.

The Engineers finished the game having made 77.4% (24 of 31) of their free throws and 46.3% (25 of 54) of their field goals. Joining Wetmore and Reynolds (10 points) in double figures in points was sophomore Bailei Tetrault (Cohoes, NY ), who was 5 of 6 from the floor and 2 of 2 from the line for 13 points. She also had three assists. Classmate Jen Rook (Byfield, Mass.) also had 13 points, along with four rebounds, an assist and four steals.

Carnell, who had 18 points at halftime, made 10 of 17 shots and added 10 rebounds in 38 minutes. Kiernan had 12 points and 12 rebounds, including 10 offensive, while Wojtas, who played a game-high 39 minutes, scored 14 points with six rebounds. The Owls held a 49-36 edge in rebounds in the game. 

Although KSC had 18 more attempts from the field and had a 24 offensive rebounds, they struggled to score points.  "We have to make shots when we get the opportunities," said Carnell.  "We just didn't finish."

"If you saw that we took 72 and  had 24 offensive rebounds you thought we'd win the game, but it wasn't the case because we couldn't score," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "We also didn't play defense.  You can stay in games if you play defense, but we didn't do that tonight."

Keene State plays at Daniel Webster on Thursday at 5pm.