KEENE, N.H. 3/3/12 – Utilizing a 17-9 run to close out the game, the Keene State College women's basketball team defeated in-state rival Colby Sawyer College 56-48 on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium to advance to the ECAC Championship game on Sunday at 2 pm.

"Defense has been our backbone all year," said KSC head coach Keith Boucher. "In tournaments all you have to do is survive, and that is what we did today."

The top seeded Owls will square off against the second seeded Smith College Pioneers, who defeated Endicott College 79-57 at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Senior Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, Conn.) had a game-high 14 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season for Keene State (19-9). Junior forward Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) was the only other Owl in double figures with 11 points.

Chargers (22-8) junior Cailin Bullitt (Millbury, Mass.) scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half to lead Colby Sawyer. Sophomore guard Ashley Fruzzetti (Raynham, Mass.) was second on the team with 11 points in the losing effort.

Colby-Sawyer junior forward Sammi Lehr (Cohasset, Mass.) hit a driving layup with 11:19 left in the second half to even the game at 39-39.

A jumper from senior Niki Cote (Ashford, Conn.) and back-to-back layups from freshman forward Courtney Roberts (Sutton, Mass.), the Owls opened up the lead to 45-39 at the 8:36 mark. "Courtney (Roberts) gave us a huge lift off the bench asserting herself in the paint and making some big buckets for us down the stretch," said Boucher.

The Chargers would get as close as four, as Lehr's put-back layup made it a 49-45 game with 3:45 to play.

Cote would answer, with her first three-ball of the game, putting the Owls up by seven, and senior forward Meghan Farrell's (Chester, VT) free throws with 10 seconds remaining, would give the Owls a 56-48 victory.

In the first half, Colby Sawyer took a 7-5 lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Ashley Fruzzetti (Raynham, Mass.), then Owls went on a run, capped by a three-ball from senior guard Sara Laudano (North Haven, Conn.) to make it 14-7 with 15:02 left in the first stanza.

Extending the lead to as many as nine, Keene State got a boost from their bench, as freshman guard Nikki Stacy (Uxbridge, Mass.) hit her first shot from beyond the arc, giving KSC a 21-12 lead with 9:05 remaining.

Bullitt would close the Owl lead down to one, hitting a three-ball with 3:15 left to make it 25-21. On the next CSC possession, Bullitt took the ball to the rim and drew the foul, for the old fashioned three-point play with 2:45 left before the half.

Keene State won the rebounding battle 50-38, with Cirillo and Farrell each grabbing double-digits, with 13 and 11 respectively. Colby Sawyer freshman forward Kelsey Cahill (Cumberland, R.I.) led the Chargers with 11 boards.

KSC shot just 29% from the field on the game (20-of-68), while Colby Sawyer finished at just under 34% (19-of-56). "I thought in the second half our offense was more patient," said Boucher.

Smith Advances to Title Game with 79-57 Win Over Endicott

KEENE, N.H. 3/3/12 – Led by a 25-0 run late in the first half, the no. 2 seeded Smith College Pioneers defeated the Endicott College Gulls 79-57, on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium. With the victory, Smith improves to 22-6 and advances to the ECAC Northeast Championship contest against host Keene State College on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Endicott ends their season at 18-12 with the loss.

In a back-and-forth first half, the Gulls stormed out to an eight-point lead on a jumper from senior guard Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) to make it 16-8 with 11:46 left in the half.

After an Endicott layup by sophomore Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.), the Gulls were held scoreless until there was 1:59 left in the, as Smith would go on a 25-0 run in just over eight minutes, taking a 35-18 lead on a layup from freshman guard Maddie Page (Arvada, Colorado) with 2:11 left. In the run, Pioneer junior Lizzy BelBruno (Hanover, N.H.) would score all 12 of her first half points, including a pair of shots from beyond-the-arc.

In the second half, Endicott would cut the lead to 10, on a jumper from White with 17:49 left, but that is as close as the Gulls would get, as Smith would open the lead up to as many as 26 enroute to the 79-57 victory.

The Pioneers had four players in double figures, led by BelBruno's 15 points. Junior Amanda Zakoske (Jacksonville, Florida) and freshman Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, California) each registered 11 points, while sophomore Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H.) pitched in with 10 points. Senior Ellie Giles (Charlottesville, Virginia) grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Endicott was led by sophomore Samantha Crough (Cohassett, Mass.) and her 15 points in the game. White finished with 14, while sophomore Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) totaled 12 points in the losing effort and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.

Smith won the battle on the glass with 46 rebounds to Endicott's 40, while shooting a blistering 46% (31-67) from the field. The Gulls, shot just 26% in the first half and just under 36% from the field in the game, in the losing effort.