Box Score KEENE, NH - The Keene State College women's basketball team rallied from 14 down in the second half, but was unable to complete the comeback as Southern Maine escaped Spaulding Gymnasium with a 71-66 LEC win Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Owls 5-3, 1-1 LEC see their four game win streak come to an end, while the Huskies improve to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
The Owls led 7-4, but over the next two minutes, the Huskies put together a 10-0 run fueled by six points by Stephanie Gallagher for the 14-7 lead with 11:50 remaining. Gallagher's fourth trey of the half gave USM a 35-25 advantage going into the break, their largest lead of the game.
Stacy Kayla's shot from long distance gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game (62-48) with 5:42 remaining, but three-straight threes by the Owls brought them to withing seven (64-57) with 2:25 on the clock. USM closed out the game by converting seven free throws to end any hope of a comeback.
Sandi Purcell was the leading scorer for the Owls with 24 points, including seven 3-pointers and Christan Wojtas added 12 points and five rebounds. Courtney Roberts came off the bench and recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Four Huskies scored in double figures as Megan Pelletier led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds, followed by Gallager's 16. Ella Ramonas and Taylor Flood scored 13 and 12, respectively, while Ramonas pulled down a team high nine boards.
Southern Maine went 8-19 (42%) from behind the arc and shot 49% from the field. The Owls shot 24-65 (37%), including 11 3-pointers, but only converted 7-16 free throws. The Huskies held a 42-40 edge in rebounds.
Keene State is off until Dec. 30 when they host Anna Maria College, Regis College and William Paterson University in the KSC Holiday Tournament. The Owls open up against Anna Maria at 1 p.m. Southern Maine returns to action Dec. 29 against WPI at the Westfield State Tournament.
