Box Score TROY, N.Y. – Junior Courtney Roberts and sophomore Stephanie D'Annolfo each scored 14 points each to lead the Keene State College women's basketball team to a 60-57 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), this evening in non-league play from East Campus Arena. With the win, the Owls improve to 4-2 overall, while the Engineers drop to 3-4.
A tightly contested opening 10 minutes provided little separation for either team, as the Engineers' early three-point edge (7-4) was the largest for either team.
A three-pointer by junior Ellen Boucher gave RPI a brief 15-13 lead, midway through the half, but the Owls fought back with three quick points, on a mid-range jumper and a free throw to retake the lead (16-15).
Senior Bailei Tetrault corralled an offensive rebound and converted from in close with 6:06 remaining the first half, to give the hosts a 21-18 lead. A pair of free-throws by junior Lauren Young pushed the advantage to 23-18 with 4:37 left in the stanza.
Two more from the line from Ashley Clough were answered on a lay-up by sophomore Sarah Kober to keep the Owls within 25-22. D'Annolfo then hit two free throws to make it a one-point game (25-24) with 2:06 to go in the half.
Tetrault hit two from the stripe with 21.3 seconds remaining to give Rensselaer a 27-24 lead at the break. Despite shooting just 25% in the first half, Keene State kept close thanks to 15 turnovers by the Engineers.
KSC opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 32-29 lead, just 2:07 in. Junior Kelsey Cognetta capped the stretch with a three-pointer from the wing and baskets from Amanda Petrow and D'Annolfo pushed the Owls lead to 36-31 with 16:20 on the clock.
Boucher gave Rensselaer a 43-42 lead with 10:28 to go, when she drove the lane and scored. Clough then put the Engineers up three off a feed from Young.
Two straight baskets from Roberts put the Owls up 50-47 with 7:31 to go.
Following a free-throw line jumper by Roberts and a fast-break lay-up by Kober, RPI senior Amanda lynch brought RPI to within 58-54 with exactly 2:00 on the clock.
Keene State was able to hold on for the win, despite missing three shots and four free-throws in the final two minutes. Rensselaer had a chance down three with 30 seconds left, but was unable to get a shot away.
Cognetta finished in double-figures with 10 points for the visitors. D'Annolfo added eight steals, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals, while Kober led the team with 11 rebounds.
Lynch paced all scorers with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. She also had a team-best nine rebounds. Clough and Tetrault both finished with 10 points. The Owls shot just 34.8% from the field and hit just 1 of 17 three-pointers, but were able to capitalize on 26 RPI turnovers.
The Engineers are back in action on December 29 and 30, when they take part in the Westfield State Holiday Tournament. Keene State hosts UMass-Boston for its Little East Conference opener on Saturday (1pm).
