HANOVER, N.H. – Jackie Alibrandi hit a three and Aryanna Murray a jumper on consecutive possessions three minutes into the third quarter to bring the Keene State College women's basketball team within five, but Division I Ivy League member Dartmouth College pulled away to an 11-point lead through three and eventually to a 65-41 win over the Owls in an exhibition game for KSC at Leede Arena on Tuesday night.

Records

• Keene State:  1-2
• Dartmouth:  1-2

How It Happened
Playing for the third time in four days, the Owls hung around for the vast majority of the game, as Samantha Lee's jumper with 7:23 left made it 43-34, but Dartmouth scored six quick points in a little over a minute to push their lead to 15 and closed the game on a 22-7 run over the final 6:36 to pick up their first win of the season and first career win for new head coach Linda Cimino.  KSC was active defensively, especially early, holding Dartmouth to 28 percent shooting in the first half and forcing 13 turnovers to stay within 23-15 despite shooting just 21 percent themselves (3-12 from three).  The Big Green had 17 miscues overall (one more than KSC), but the Owls only converted those mistakes into six points off turnovers.  Keene State also did not have many answers for Victoria Page, who scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting (4-5 FT) while adding seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.  She scored 19 of her points in the second half to almost singlehandedly help her team pull away, as the Big Green's second leading scorer in the second half was Cate MacDonald with six points.  With her team up nine with 7:23 left, Page scored six consecutive points in 49 seconds to make it 49-34 at the 5:47 mark, and MacDonald made it 51-36 after a second-chance bucket on Dartmouth's next possession.

Keene State ultimately could not find enough offense, nor control the boards enough (outrebounded 55-32 while allowing 22 offensive rebounds against a bigger Dartmouth front line), to threaten in the late stages of the game.  However, for much of the contest, the Owls hung around.  It was 10-6 Dartmouth after 10 minutes and it seemed it might turn into an early runaway when the home team scored seven straight in the opening 3:32 for a 17-6 edge.  However, after trailing 20-8 with 5:22 to go until halftime, the Owls closed on a 7-3 push to make it a 23-15 game at the break, capped with a buzzer-beating three by Murray.  Valerie Luizzi opened the second half with a triple just 20 seconds in off a feed from Brynn Rautiola, and suddenly KSC was right back within five again.

Still a five-point game, Dartmouth pushed their edge to 30-20 when MacDonald made a jumper and Mia Curtis a triple on consecutive possessions less than two minutes into the third, but Alibrandi's three and a jumper by Murray in the next minute chipped the lead right back in half again (30-25).  The Big Green responded with an 8-0 burst to restore a double-digit lead at 38-25, and they carried a 41-30 edge into the final quarter after a three-point play from Sierra Carson somewhat nullified five straight KSC points on an Avery Stewart three and two Rautiola free throws.

Playing for the first time since 1978, KSC drew within nine twice in the fourth, including on Luizzi's jumper at the 8:40 mark and Lee's 1:17 later, but Dartmouth was able to shake the Owls from there.  The Big Green shot 55 percent (11-for-20) in the final 10 minutes, increasing on their previous best quarter percentage by over 19 percentage points.

KSC was paced by 10 points from Alibrandi, who made 4-of-8 from the floor and two of five from three.  Murray and Luizzi each had seven points and combined for six rebounds, four steals, and four assists against only two turnovers.

Inside the Paint

• The teams combined for just 22 fouls total (11 per side).
• Stewart (2-4 3-PT) and Alibrandi combined to go 4-for-9 from three-point range (rest of team 2-for-13).

Up Next

• Keene State travels north again on Thursday night (November 16), this time to New London for a matchup against Colby-Sawyer College (1-2) with tip-off at 7:00 p.m.  The Chargers lost by four at Thomas College (Maine) (56-52) and three at Emerson College (69-66) in their first two games before winning by one point at Curry College (60-59) tonight.
• Dartmouth travels to the University of New Hampshire (2-1) on Sunday, November 26 at 1:00 p.m.