KEY LARGO, FLA. 1/2/14 – The Keene State College women's basketball team captured the Key Largo Classic Championship with a 74-68 overtime victory over Austin College of Texas at Coral Shores High School in Tavernier, Florida on Thursday.

"I thought we really grew up during the trip," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "I'm really proud of the kids.  They could have folded when we got behind in the second half, but they showed a lot of mental toughness."

Winners of five of their last six games, the Owls (6-3) showed some of that toughness in the final seconds of regulation play.  Trailing by two points (56-54) with six seconds to go, freshman Stephanie D'Annolfo (Tyngsboro, Mass.), who was named the tournament's MVP, sent the game into overtime when she length of the court and was fouled attempting a shot.  She made the first shot, and after a timeout by Austin College, hit her second shot to tie the score at 56-all. 

The Kangaroos (5-5) got the ball back with three seconds to play, but KSC junior Nikki Stacy (Uxbridge, Mass.) did a nice defensive job on senior Erin Riley, preventing her from getting off a three-pointer as time expired. 

Overtime was Keene State time as the Owls outscored the Roos 18-9 in the extra period.  Junior Christan Wojtas (Amherst, N.H.) hit a pair of key three-pointers and sophomore Kelsey Cognetta (Stamford, Conn.), who returned to the game after suffering a cut on her forehead, hit six free throws to seal the win for Keene State. 

Cognetta led the Owls with a career high 26 points.  Wotjas scored 18 points and D'Annolfo finished with 12 points, four rebounds and seven assists.  Senior Carly Kiernan (Topsfield, Mass.) just missed her second straight double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  

Keene State shot 42% from the field (25-59), but knocked down 12 of its 28 shots (43%) from behind the arc.  Wojtas was 6-14 while Cognetta went 5-8 from three-point land. 

Despite struggling from the line (12-26, 46%), KSC hit some big free throws in overtime, going 7-10 from the line.

Riley led Austin with 18 points.

A large contingent of Owl fans made the trip to Key Largo to cheer on the team, including KSC athletic director John Ratliff. 

Keene State will spend Friday in Florida before returning north to snowy Keene on Saturday.