Box Score Providence, R.I.- The Keene State College women's baskeball team held off a late rally from Rhode Island College to earn a 59-50 conference victory at The Murray Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls (8-4, 2-1 LEC) opened a seven point lead, 13-6, when junior guard Kelsey Cognetta buried two free throws with 12:17 remaining in the half. The Anchorwomen (2-10, 1-2 LEC) cut the lead down to two, 19-17, when freshman guard Jess Korzec buried a layup off a feed from sophomore Alex Moore with 7:14 left. Keene State used suffocating defense down the stretch to up their lead to 10 points, 33-23, entering halftime.
The Anchorwomen struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 28.0 percent (7-for-25) in the stanza, while the Owls shot 56.0 percent (14-for-25).
Keene stretched the lead to 13, 36-23, just 28 seconds into the second half when sophomore guard Stephanie D'Annolfo converted an old fashioned three-point play. The Owls maintained the lead through the middle portion of the half and held a lead of 10 points with 5:24 remaining in the game.
Moore started a RIC rally, converting on a pair of free throws to cut their deficit down to eight before junior guard Michelle Lagrotteria buried a long ball to trim the lead to five, 47-42, with 4:38 left in the half.
The rally continued and Hill cut the lead to one, 47-46, by burying a layup off a Lagrotteria feed. That would be the closest RIC would come as Cognetta scored 10 of Keene's final 12 points to give the game its final score, 59-50.
Hill scored her 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the foul line. Moore chipped in 11 points, while Korzec tallied nine points and eight rebounds. The Anchorwomen shot 28.3 percent (15-for-53) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-for-16) from three-point land and 88.9 percent (16-for-18) from the charity stripe for the game.
Cognetta's 15 points and four rebounds led Keene State, while freshman guard Sandi Purcell contributed a team-high 16 points. Sarah Kober pulled down a career high 16 rebounds. KSC shot 40.8 percent (20-for-49) from the field, while shooting 28.6 percent (4-for-14) from long range and 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the free throw line
In upcoming LEC action, KSC will travel to Western Connecticut Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
