NEW LONDON, N.H. – First year guard Brynn Rautiola (Jaffrey, N.H.) scored 24 of her season and career-best 27 points after halftime, including a number of momentum-changing shots, as the Keene State College women's team led for nearly the entire game but had to stave off several Colby-Sawyer College rallies in a 66-58 win on Thursday night at the Hogan Sports Center.

Records

• Keene State:  2-2
• Colby-Sawyer:  1-3

How It Happened
The Owls, playing in their fifth game in eight days to open the season, started fast – particularly on defense – to open a 15-3 advantage after one quarter and a 21-6 lead 2:27 into the second, but then had to hit some key shots in the second half to preserve the victory to get back to .500 on the season.  Colby-Sawyer hit just one of their first 10 shots and was 2-of-15 from the field by the time they trailed by 15 just 12:27 into the game.  From that point forward, playing their home opener, the hosts connected on 16 of their final 36 shots (44 percent), but Rautiola engineered an impressive second half, making eight of 13 shots (62 percent) from the floor and 4-of-7 from three while adding two assists and four steals.  She also made all four of her free throw attempts, and KSC as a team was 7-of-9 at the line to help salt away the victory. 

Colby-Sawyer had clawed within 27-23 at halftime, scoring the final five points after KSC led 27-18 with 1:47 left until the break.  They opened the second half with a layup from Courtney Brewster to get within two, but as became a trend throughout the final 20 minutes, Rautiola's steal and layup at the 8:24 mark helped spark a modest 6-0 burst that pushed the Owls' lead back to eight (33-25) in a two-minute span.  The Chargers got five of the points right back before Rautiola buried a three halfway through the quarter to make it a six-point lead again.  Ahead 36-33, her layup with 2:28 to go in the quarter was the beginning of an 11-0 run in only 2:10 to push the Owls' lead up to 47-33, one off the game-high mark.  Gabby Lucertini hit a three in the final seconds of the third to end the surge and make it an 11-point lead heading to the fourth, and despite KSC seeming to be in control for most of the night, the Chargers would not go away, getting within 47-41 with 7:16 left following a triple and two free throws from Megan Molettieri.  However, Rautiola had the answers for KSC, including a jumper on the subsequent possession to make it an eight-point lead, and then a big triple that made it 54-44 with 4:49 to go following an Aryanna Murray steal.  The Chargers, who shot 43 percent and made 5-of-11 from distance in the fourth (after entering the period 4-for-22 from deep), kept putting pressure on the Owls, reducing their 10-point lead to three (54-51) in only 1:31 thanks to a triple each from Lucertini and Brewster.  But Rautiola drained a three off a pass from Murray just 17 seconds after CSC got within one possession.  She then did it twice more after that.  A three-point play from Elyza Mitchell made it 57-54 at the 2:52 mark, but Rautiola's jumper made it 59-54 with 1:45 to go.  Lucertini answered with a quick trey as the Chargers got even closer – within two again – but Valerie Luizzi bounced a pass over to Rautiola on KSC's trip down the court and she buried a triple to the left of the top of the key to make it 62-57.  Brewster went 1-for-2 at the line with 53 seconds left, and the Owls closed it out from there with no issue, as Lee's layup 15 ticks later pushed the lead to six and she then stole the ball from Lucertini and Jackie Alibrandi made a pair of free throws to set the final margin. 

Keene State saved their best shooting quarter for last, connecting on 7-of-17 in the final 10 minutes (41 percent) and 3-of-7 from deep.  Rautiola accounted for many of those numbers, scoring 13 points in that period (5-7 FG, 3-4 3-PT).  KSC had 19 as a team.  The 27-point effort overall came on 9-of-21 shooting including 5-of-11 from deep and 4-for-4 at the foul line.

The Owls built their lead in the first half thanks to taking care of the ball (nine assists, eight turnovers) and forcing 14 miscues defensively, leading to a 13-5 edge in points off turnovers.  KSC also doubled Colby-Sawyer on the offensive glass in the opening 20 minutes (10-5), leading to eight second chance points out of 27 overall.  Seven of the offensive boards and nine of the forced turnovers came in the first quarter, when KSC led 15-3.  The Owls did not crack the scoreboard until 4:15 into the game, but Colby-Sawyer managed one free throw in that span and that 1-0 lead was their lone advantage of the game despite scoring 55 points in the final three quarters.

Murray finished with 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal for KSC to join Rautiola in double-figures.  Luizzi had nine points, six rebounds, and three assists while Lee finished with 10 rebounds, six points, three steals, and two assists.

The Chargers placed four in double-figures, including 15 points from Brewster (4-8 FG, 1-1 3-PT, 6-10 FT).  She added a team-best eight rebounds and two blocks.  Marissa Holt scored 13 points (5-13 FG, 3-10 3-PT) while Lucertini (4-9 FG, 3-7 3-PT) and Molettieri (2-7 3-PT, 5-6 FT) had 11 apiece.  However, Colby-Sawyer could not overcome 27 turnovers and being outrebounded 14-6 on the offensive glass, helping lead to 20 fewer field goal attempts (71-51).

Inside the Paint

• Rautiola is averaging 16.3 points per game over her first four collegiate games.  She has scored 44 over the last two, and has 12 steals overall (her and Luizzi have combined for 23 of KSC's 41).
• It was Keene State's first visit to New London in 20 years and just the fifth all-time meeting in the series that KSC now leads 3-2.  CSC won the only other meeting at home, 52-48 in the quarterfinals of the 2003 ECAC tournament as the No. 2 seed playing against the No. 7 seed Owls.  The Chargers wound up losing in the tournament championship 77-73 at Plymouth State University after ousting Babson College 54-37 in the semis.
• The teams shot nearly identical field goal percentages – KSC 35.2 percent and Colby-Sawyer 35.3 percent.

Up Next

• Keene State has the weekend off before taking on Worcester State University (1-2) in a pre-Thanksgiving break tilt at Spaulding Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 21 at 5:00 p.m.
• Colby-Sawyer, whose first three games were all decided by four points or less, visits Plymouth State (2-1) on the same night for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.