KEENE, N.H. – Valerie Luizzi and Elizabeth Gonyea combined to make 6-of-11 from three-point range and score 25 points, but the Keene State College women's basketball team was outscored 30-6 in the paint and turned the ball over 23 times as they lost to Castleton University 59-45 in a Little East Conference game at Spaulding Gymnasium Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  3-11, 1-7 LEC
• Castleton:  11-5, 4-3 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Boucher)

How It Happened
Things seemed great early on as the Owls hit three triples in the opening 3:15 of game action to take a 9-0 lead, but those would be the last points they would score in the first quarter and they ultimately did not score again until 4:24 remained in the second quarter – going over 13 minutes without a point – and that more or less told the story of the night as they dropped their sixth straight.  KSC had been up and down in recent games, coming from 23 points down at the University of Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday to take a three-point lead later in the fourth quarter before eventually falling.  The game before that, the Owls trailed at halftime at Eastern Connecticut State University but shot 54 percent in that half before then being limited to 5-for-28 after.  Tonight, aside from a flurry early and a flurry late, the middle was all Spartans, as they scored 20 straight points after falling into the nine-point deficit and were never threatened much after that.  Luizzi finally broke KSC's long drought with a three that made it 20-12 with 4:24 to go in the second quarter and it kicked off a mini push that got the Owls within 22-16 on two free throws from Kenzie Durnford with 2:04 left, but KSC missed their next three shots and turned the ball over right before halftime, leading to an uncontested transition layup from Elise Magro just before the buzzer that put Castleton up 10 at halftime.  Despite shooting 17 percent from the floor (5-for-30) and making just one two in the half, KSC remained within shouting distance thanks to their four threes while the Spartans were a frigid 1-for-13 from three.

A KSC turnover and miss opened the second half before Kelly Vuz hit a three, and that was a harbinger of things to come, as the Owls found themselves down 36-20 with 5:08 left in the third quarter after Magro made a three.  KSC did not get the deficit lower than 15 points until there was 1:07 to go in regulation.  Vuz made a layup at the third quarter buzzer to make it a 21-point bulge (46-25) and the Spartans led by as many as 27 (55-28) with 5:40 to go in regulation.  Keene State outscored the visitors 17-4 from then on mostly thanks to Luizzi and Gonyea combining to make three treys, but overall it was too late and not enough to overcome what, ultimately, was a 30:57 span of game action in which they shot 5-for-36 (14 percent) and 2-for-16 from three.  They also had 22 turnovers, 10 more than Castleton in that stretch.

Not a proficient three-point shooting team coming into the night, Castleton did not need to be, as they got 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting (and 5-for-5 at the free throw line) from sophomore forward Liz Bailey.   Magro added 17 points, but shot 6-for-18 overall, while Vuz had 13 points (4-11 FG, 1-6 3-PT, 4-4 FT), eight rebounds, and two steals.

Gonyea paced Keene State with a season-high 13 points (3-6 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 5-6 FT), four rebounds, and three assists.  Luizzi added 12 points (4-7 3-PT).  Rylee Burgess led the team with seven rebounds, but the Owls were overall outrebounded 41-32.

Inside the Paint

• Luizzi, a first year rookie from Colchester, Conn., has made double-digit treys eight times in her young career.  Her four tonight were a new season and early career-best.
• KSC shot 7-for-13 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range in the fourth quarter, but the 18 percent shooting clip in the opening three quarters proved impossible to overcome.  Their seven field goals in the final 10 minutes matched their total of the first 30.
• A series the Owls once led 5-1 now sees them trail 7-4.  KSC had won three of the last four meetings entering the night despite averaging 46.9 points per game offensively.

Up Next

• Keene State welcomes the University of Southern Maine (4-11, 2-6 LEC) on Saturday, January 21 for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.  The Huskies, who lost 69-58 at home to UMass-Boston tonight, have lost five straight and are 1-6 on the road.
• Castleton travels to league-leading Rhode Island College on the same day, also at 1:00 p.m.  The Spartans are 1-8 all-time against RIC.