KEENE, N.H. – The University of Massachusetts-Boston shot 54 percent (7-of-13) from three-point range in a 41-point opening half to build a double-digit advantage and then turned away a rally by the Keene State College women's basketball team, going on to a 68-56 victory in Little East Conference action Friday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.  The Owls saw their four-game winning streak end on Senior Day, their final regular season home game of the season.

Records

• Keene State:  9-13, 6-9 LEC
• UMass-Boston:  8-13, 7-8 LEC

How It Happened
Overall in the opening 20 minutes, the Beacons shot 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the floor as they took a 41-27 halftime edge, outscoring the Owls by 19 points over the final 16:56 after KSC had jumped out to a 5-0 advantage a little over two minutes into the game.  Keene State had no answers for the tandem of Sunny Green and Meg Dixon, who combined to score 21 points on 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-9 from deep in the half.  It also hurt that the Owls were ice cold themselves from three-point land, making just 3-of-28.  Hailey Derosia and Brianna Metellus each connected from distance in the opening quarter as KSC made a pair (of their eight tries), but then were just 1-of-20 over the remainder of the game.  In the past two contests, the Owls have made 5-of-50 from deep.

Despite the three-point struggles and also an 11-for-20 showing at the free throw line (UMB 17-22), Keene State made a major push in the third quarter, trimming a 14-point deficit to four (45-41) after an 11-1 burst in just 3:11 of game time.  Metellus, one of two seniors honored before the game along with Jenny Freedman, had five of those points while Derosia had four.  KSC made 5-of-8 shots in that span while also holding UMB without a make in six tries.  The Beacons, after leading 41-27 at halftime, were doubled up 16-8 in the quarter.  Samantha Lee converted inside with 21 seconds to go in the period to again make it a four-point game (47-43) after two free throws from Keriann Farina stopped UMass-Boston's drought, but KSC gave up perhaps a momentum-changing bucket right to Jasharee Greene right at the end of the quarter to make it 49-43.

The Owls started the final 10 minutes 0-for-3 from the field and committed a pair of turnovers, but the Beacons returned the favor with a pair of miscues and two missed shots themselves before two Aryanna Murray free throws with 7:52 left made it a four-point game again (49-45).  However, KSC could get no closer.  Dixon buried a big three on the other side to immediately push the UMass-Boston lead to 52-45 19 seconds later, and after an Owl miss from long range, Vienna Monestime's layup made it 54-45 with 6:57 remaining.  After getting within four in the fourth, KSC missed five of their next six shots.  They were never closer than seven again.  Freedman made it 54-47 at the 6:26 mark, but after Farina went 1-of-2 at the line, KSC missed both and then allowed another jumper by Farina to fall behind by 10 about two minutes later.  The Owls again trailed by seven (59-52) with a little over a minute left and had the ball after grabbing an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, but could not convert a layup and then saw Green drain a three – Boston's ninth on the day – on the other side to dash any remaining hopes with 56.4 seconds left.  KSC shot 31 percent or less from the field in three of the four quarters, including a 4-for-16 (25 percent) performance in the final 10 minutes, where they also went 5-for-10 at the free throw line.  The Beacons converted 45 percent or better from the floor in three of the four quarters, including 5-of-11 overall in the fourth, 2-of-3 from three, and 7-for-8 at the free throw line. 

UMass-Boston had four players in double-figures, paced by Dixon who finished with 17 points (4-10 FG, 3-7 3-PT, 6-6 FT), 14 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.  Green (5-8 FG, 4-7 3-PT) and Farina (2-8 FG, 10-12 FT) each added 14 points, while Monestime finished with 10 as the Beacons won for just the third time in 11 tries this season on the road.  Their only previous wins away from the Clark Athletic Center came at Plymouth State University and Western Connecticut State University.  UMB's 45 percent effort from three-point territory today was a season-best.  They entered the day shooting 26.7 percent on the season from deep and had the seventh-best offense in the conference at 56.5 points per game (KSC sixth), but snapped the Owls' streak of holding teams under 40 percent shooting overall at seven games.  The Owl defense had risen to fourth in field goal percentage defense in the league, 99th out of 423 teams nationally.

Derosia saved a season-best scoring output for her final regular season home game this season, putting in 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and eight steals.  KSC stayed in the game despite being thoroughly outshot as a team partly because they forced 21 turnovers and had a 20-9 scoring edge off miscues.  Metellus (3-10 FG, 2-2 FT) added 10 points and five rebounds, while Murray recorded 10 points, four assists, and two rebounds.  The outrebounded the Beacons 17-8 on the offensive end despite being minus-five in that category overall, but only turned those extra opportunities into 11 second chance points.

Inside the Paint

• The loss lessens KSC's chances of hosting a Little East Conference quarterfinal game next Tuesday.  They now must win at UMass-Boston in a rematch tomorrow – at which point would clinch the tiebreaker with the Beacons due to a better record against UMass-Dartmouth – and have the University of Southern Maine lose at eighth-place Western Connecticut State University, who played and lost 61-54 in overtime at last place Plymouth State University this afternoon.  A loss would keep the Owls in sixth or drop them to seventh.
• Derosia is shooting 48 percent (38-for-80) over her last eight games, averaging 12.3 points in that span.
• Keene State leads the all-time series 36-15, but has lost eight of the last 10 overall and four of the last five at Spaulding Gymnasium.  The Beacons were 2-19 here previously.

Up Next

• The two teams play again tomorrow in Boston at the Clark Athletic Center, where KSC has dropped their last three, at 1:00 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.  UMass-Boston is currently fourth in the conference standings and would stay there with a win.