MIDDLEBURY, VT.  1/24/13 – Senior Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) cracked the 20-point mark for the fourth consecutive game with a game-high 21 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Keene State College women's basketball team from dropping a 60-54 non-conference game to Middlebury College at Pepin Gymnasium on Thursday night.

The Owls, who have lost two in a row, fall to 7-11.  Middlebury improves to 10-8. The Owls had won the last seven games between the two teams.

Sophomore Christan Wojtas (Amherst, N.H.)  and freshman Kelsey Cognetta (Stamford, Conn.) also finished in double figures for KSC  with 10 point s each.  Wojtas had a tough night shooting, hitting just three of her 16 attempts for the field.  Sophomore Courtney Roberts (Sutton, Mass.) came off the bench to pull down 10 rebounds to go with six points.

Senior Tracy Borsinger (Chatham, N.J.) finished with 18 points and seven rebounds and junior Scarlett Kirk (San Francisco, Ca.) scored 16 points to lead the Panthers. Borsinger hit five of Middlebury's 12 three-pointers in the game.  KSC struggled behind the arc, hitting just one of its 15 attempts.  

Middlebury used the three- ball to pull ahead of the Owls in the first half. The Panthers knocked down seven of their 17 attempts from behind the arc on the way to taking a 28-22 lead at the break.  Meanwhile, KSC, which missed all seven of its three-points shots in the half, stayed in the game thanks to Carnell who had 10 first half points.

 It was an uphill struggle for the Owls the entire game.  They would get close only to see the Panthers pull away again.

Cognetta connected for a jumper from the top of the key that got the Owls to within one (43-42) at the 8:25 mark, but Middlebury came right back with eight straight points, including three-pointers by junior Laura Lowry (West Hartford, Conn.) and senior Kate Logan (Washington Crossing, Pa.)  to push their lead back up to nine points (51-42).

Carnell scored seven straight points on a couple of jumpers and three free throws to make it a two point game (51-49) with 2:43 to go, but Kirk hit a free throw and in the Owls' next possession, she stole the ball and was fouled after hitting a lay-up.  She hit the free throw giving the Panthers a 55-49 lead with 1:30 to go.

Fouled while attempting a three-pointer, Wojtas, hit all three of her shots from the line to make it 56-52 with 59 seconds on the clock. 

KSC had a chance to draw closer, but Wojtas and junior Brianna McCain (Hampton, N.H.) missed three-pointers and Lowry and Kirk hit free throws to keep KSC from getting any closer.

Keene State out-rebounded Middlebury 45-33.

KSC returns to Little East Conference play on Saturday when it travels to UMass-Boston for a 1 p.m. game.