KEENE, N.H. 12/8/12 – Senior Teresa Pina (Boston, Mass.) scored a game high 22 points and sophomore Kristen Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the UMass-Boston women's basketball team to a 70-60 Little East Conference victory over Keene State College at Spaulding Gym on Saturday afternoon. It was just the second time the Beacons beat the Owls at Spaulding Gym, spanning LEC 16 games.

Freshman Christan Wojtas (Amherst, N.H.) tied her season high with 16 points and first-year Laurie Allien (Medford, Mass.) came off the bench to score a season best 14 point to go along with five assists for the Owls (3-5, 0-2 LEC), who are still looking for their first win in conference play. 

The Beacons (6-2, 1-1 LEC), who notched their first LEC win of the season, had a good day at the line, hitting 21of their 25 attempts (84%) from the stripe.

After the game, KSC Coach Keith Boucher didn't want to use his team's youth as an excuse on defense.  "People tell me we're young, but if you don't score on one end you still have to learn how to defend," he said.  "There were times when we had a point guard on their biggest player (Morrison) in the post a couple times.  We're not big in the post and I have to find a way to rectify that problem."

  Good ball movement produced a jumper in the paint by sophomore Courtney Roberts (Sutton, Mass.) giving KSC its largest lead (20-15) with 7:26 to play in the first half. 

Back-to-back three-pointers from the left corner by freshman Meghan Agger (Saco, Me.) and sophomore Lauren Perra (Taunton, Mass.), who finished with 15 points, put the Beacons up 35-31 with just over a minute to play in the half.

Sophomore Rachael Brucks (Suwanee, Geo.) knocked down a jumper at the buzzer to cut the Owls deficit to two points (35-33) at the half.

KSC shot 50% (15-30) from the field while the Beacons were perfect (7-7) from the line in the first half.

The Beacons went on a 10-2 run out the break.  Fouled while taking a three-pointer, Perra hit all three of her shots from the line. She later found Morrison down for a lay-up, giving the Beacons a 45-35 lead.

Providing a spark off the bench, Allien hit a lay-up and sophomore Meghan Shaw (Franklin, Mass.) buried a three-pointer from the left corner to cut the Beacons lead to three points (47-44) midway in the second half.

The Beacons bounced back, taking a 62-51 lead on a pair of free throws by Morrison with 4:07 to go.  A lay-up by Pina made it 67-58 with 1:20, sealing the win for UMass-Boston.

The Beacons won the battle of the board 40-37.  KSC shot 23-63 from the field 937%), 6-21 (29%) from behind the arc and was 8-11 (73%) from the line.

Off for the break, KSC returns to the court on Sunday, Dec. 30 when it hosts its holiday tournament.  The break comes at a bad time for the Owls.  "It doesn't look god for us right now," said Boucher.  We need time in the gym.  You hope the players go home and work on their game a little bit and then come back with the frame of mind that we got a short period of time to get better."