GORHAM, Maine – The Keene State College women's basketball team erased a 15-point third quarter deficit with a 17-2 run that took only seven minutes, but managed only 24 points over the other 33 minutes of the game as they lost 55-41 to the University of Southern Maine in an early season Little East Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  0-2, 0-1 LEC
• Southern Maine:  1-1, 1-0 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls had only 15 points on the board when they trailed 30-15 with 7:18 left in the third, but made seven of their next 12 shots from the field as they scored 17 while tying the game at 32 with 1:14 left in the same quarter.  However, they did not score again until 4:40 remained in regulation, scoring only nine points after they tied the game for the first time since it was 9-9 early in the second.  Southern Maine retook the lead with a basket in the final minute of the third to take a 34-32 lead into the final 10 minutes, and then extended their run to 14-0 when they scored the opening 12 points of the fourth over the initial 5:02.  Keene State recorded just two field goals in the final 10 minutes.  In fact, the Owls shot 47 percent (7-for-15) in a third quarter where they outscored the Huskies 18-9 and otherwise connected at a 24 percent (8-for-33) clip in the other three quarters where they were minus-23 on the scoreboard.

In the fourth, KSC missed their first three shots and committed three miscues as Southern Maine pulled away, going up 42-32 on layups by Amy Fleming and Tamrah Gould on consecutive possessions with 6:34 remaining.  Rylee Burgess broke the Owls' drought with a basket with 4:40 left to make it 46-34, but there was no last-ditch rally coming from KSC, who fell into a game-high 17-point deficit at the 3:26 mark after a three by Emma Haskell.  They never got closer than 14 after that.

Keene State perhaps could have taken a lead in a third quarter they controlled, but a 3-for-8 showing at the free throw line derailed that chance.  The Owls made just 8-of-18 from the charity stripe in the game, with 16 of those attempts coming after halftime (they were 0-for-2 in the first half).  KSC also struggled from three-point land, connecting on 3-of-18 (17 percent).

There was not much offense early, but it wound up being effective as the Owls scored the game's first four points on consecutive layups by Burgess in the opening 1:04.  Southern Maine missed their first six shots and turned the ball over once as they did not score until nearly five minutes into the game.  However, at that point they only trailed 4-2.  A three from Kenzie Durnford snapped a 6:53 scoring drought for the Owls and gave her team a 7-4 lead, which was reduced to one (7-6) at the end of a low-scoring first quarter.

Southern Maine flipped the game around in the second 10 minutes as they found their offense, using a 9-0 run in a little over two minutes midway through to take an 18-9 lead on a triple from Maria Degifico with 4:08 left in the half.  Valerie Luizzi answered with one of her own on KSC's next possession to keep it a six-point game and a basket from Samantha Lee at the 2:14 mark made it 18-14, but the Owls were outscored 7-0 over the remainder of the half and trailed 25-14 at halftime.

KSC missed the first three shots they took in the third quarter after a 6-for-26 showing in the opening half to fall behind by 15 as it seemed they would be in for a long afternoon.  However, Dunford's jumper and layup on consecutive trips kicked off what the Owls hoped would turn into a game-changing surge.  Elizabeth Gonyea's triple at the 4:11 mark made it 32-26, and two free throws from her moments later made it a four-point game.  Layups from first years Lilly Krysinski and Grace Furze late in the third tied the game, but the Owls were ultimately unable to sustain the momentum.  Although they tied the game after, they misfired on a three and putback layup on one possession and then missed a bucket in-close on the next trip in the final minutes of the quarter that could have helped give them their first lead since it was 7-6.

Gonyea (6-8 FT) and Krysinski (4-8 FG) led the Owls with nine points and five rebounds apiece.  Burgess finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds.  Durnford had seven points and seven rebounds.  KSC shot 31 percent (15-for-48) from the field in the game.

Southern Maine was not appreciably better, at 39 percent overall, 5-for-21 from three, and 2-for-8 from the foul line, but had a 17-3 edge in steals and committed 12 fewer turnovers (21-9).  Tamrah Gould led the Huskies with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, and two assists.  Fleming added 10 points and eight assists.  Franny Ramsdell had nine points and 10 rebounds.

Inside the Paint

• Keene State is 2-9 in their last 11 games against Southern Maine (after winning six of the previous seven), scoring fewer than 50 points in nine of them.  In the last six matchups, they have been held under that mark five times.
• USM was picked seventh in the league's preseason coaches' poll (Keene State sixth).
• KSC's bench scored 22 of their 41 points.  They had a 22-12 advantage in points from reserves.

Up Next

• Keene State's home opener is Tuesday (November 15) when they take on Bryant & Stratton College (Albany) (1-2) at 6:00 p.m.  The Bobcats are a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) junior college Division II member that has seven different campuses, including the main one located in Buffalo, N.Y., to go along with locations in Rochester and Syracuse, and in the states of Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
• Southern Maine visits Husson University (1-1) on Wednesday, November 16 for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off.  USM had opened their season with a 57-51 loss at the University of New England this past Tuesday when they shot 33 percent.