NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – First-year forward Kenzie Durnford scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half while three other Owls added eight apiece as the Keene State College women's basketball team outscored the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 53-36 over the final three quarters to erase an early nine-point deficit in an eventual 62-54 Little East Conference victory at the Tripp Athletic Center Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  8-12, 5-8 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth:  14-6, 8-3 LEC

How It Happened
KSC placed four players in double-figures overall and assisted on 16 of their 20 made field goals as they salvaged a season series split against the Corsairs, becoming the first league team to win in five tries at the Tripp Athletic Center this season.  UMass-Dartmouth entered the night on a six-game winning streak in which they were 21.3 points better than their opponents on average, including three home wins in that span by at least 21 points, but the Owls won in North Dartmouth for the second consecutive time after a 63-60 victory in the Little East Conference tournament semifinals last year.  After scoring only 45 points in the first meeting, Keene State appeared to be headed in that same direction after the opening 10 minutes, managing just nine points on 3-for-10 shooting from the floor to trail 18-9 after one, but used their defense to quickly get back into the game.  UMass-Dartmouth made four triples in the first quarter, including two on consecutive possessions to open up the aforementioned nine-point lead, before KSC then held them scoreless for eight minutes to get back within 18-17 with 4:19 to go in the half.  After Jordan Moretti put the Corsairs back up four (21-17) two minutes later, the Owls had a big answer, getting back-to-back triples from Aryanna Murray and Durnford to go in front 23-21 with just over a minute to go.  Hailey Derosia stole Jessica Carroll's pass and fed Jenny Freedman to make it a four-point lead before Carroll's three brought UMD within 25-24 at the break.

Keene State came out of the locker room sharp offensively, making their first three shots in a 7-2 burst that took just 1:58, and they played from ahead for most of the second half, leading for 18:27 of the 20 minutes (UMD just 57 seconds).  Rylee Burgess and Derosia first scored inside to get the Owls started before Durnford began her impressive half with a three off a pass from Derosia to make it 32-26.  UMass-Dartmouth scored five in a row and wound up shooting 50 percent (8-for-16) in the third quarter as they stayed right there, but KSC came up with big answers when needed.  Moretti's fast break layup off a turnover put the Corsairs in front for the first time in the half (37-36) with 4:24 left in the third, but Durnford immediately canned a three 13 seconds later to put the Owls right back in front.  The cycle repeated twice more, as Meagan Donovan, a hero at Spaulding Gymnasium earlier this season, answered to make it 40-39 UMD, but back came Murray with a trey of her own.  Caroline Wilson put the Corsairs in front 43-42 at the 2:10 mark, but Murray wiped that lead away, which proved to be UMD's last, with a second triple in less than two minutes to make it 45-43.  Up one into the fourth, KSC seized control early by scoring layups on their first three possessions – two from Burgess off feeds from Murray – to go up a game-high seven (51-44), and they then locked it down with their defense that held UMass-Dartmouth to a miserable 3-for-19 showing from the floor (16 percent) in the final 10 minutes.  The hosts scored just two points over the opening 6:37 of the fourth quarter, missing their first four shots while KSC went 4-for-7 from the field.  The Owls did have a drought of their own, not scoring any points for nearly six minutes after Burgess' bucket made it 53-44 with 6:20 left, but again came up with some big plays when needed.  After the Corsairs had two chances to tie or take the lead in a two-point game with a little over a minute left, Derosia drove to the bucket and scored while being fouled for a 55-51 lead with 49 seconds to go.  UMD could not convert twice on their side, and the Owls eventually made five consecutive free throws in the final 30 seconds to push their lead to 10 and salt the game away.

Durnford made 2-of-4 from three and 5-of-6 at the foul line in the second half while finishing with 15 points (3-7 3-PT, 6-8 FT) and seven rebounds in the game.  Murray led KSC with 16 points, making 4-of-9 from three, three assists, and two rebounds.  Derosia stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points (5-11 FG), six steals, five assists, three rebounds, and two blocks.  Burgess rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points (5-6 FG), five rebounds, and a pair of rejections.

Moretti and Wilson paced UMass-Dartmouth with 11 points apiece, but they were limited to a combined 7-for-25 from the floor and 3-of-13 from three-point land.  The Corsairs lost despite making double-digit threes for the fourth time in the past six games.  They won by 42, 36, and 21 the past three times they connected on that many from distance.

Inside the Paint

• Derosia has 59 assists in 18 games this season, good for third most per game in the LEC (3.3) and fourth-most overall.  Her teammate Freedman is third in the league with 60 total helpers.  Derosia is also tied for third in assist-to-turnover ratio in the Little East.
• KSC is 4-2 since January 26 with a +8.5 average differential in that span.
• The Owls lead the all-time series 36-17.  In the two head-to-head meetings this season, KSC held the Corsairs to a 33 percent showing from the floor (37-for-111), eight percentage points lower than their league-best per game average.  UMD shot 5-for-30 (17 percent) in the second and fourth quarters combined tonight.

Up Next

• After a weekend bye, Keene State returns home to host Castleton University (12-8, 5-6 LEC) on Tuesday, February 15 at 5:00 p.m.  The Spartans are in fifth place in the league standings, tied with the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and one game ahead of the Owls.
• UMass-Dartmouth has a weekend home-and-home series with Plymouth State University (1-16, 0-12 LEC), first traveling to Plymouth on Saturday, February 12 (1:00 p.m.).  The Panthers have beaten UMD just once in the past 20 meetings.