KEENE, N.H. – First halves have not been kind to the Keene State College women's basketball team since the calendar flipped to 2023, and Wednesday night at Spaulding Gymnasium was not an exception, as the Owls were outscored 29-4 over the final 12:56 to go from being down one to down 25 in what was eventually a 68-47 loss to Eastern Connecticut State University in Little East Conference action.

Records

• Keene State:  4-14, 2-10 LEC
• Eastern Connecticut:  17-4, 11-1 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Boucher)

How It Happened
The Owls were finding success early attacking the basket, helping them remain within 9-8 with 3:38 to go in the first quarter, but they then scored only four points over the final 13:38 of a half that was a mighty struggle offensively as they dropped their fifth consecutive home game, many of which have followed similar scripts.  The last time KSC was at home, they trailed the University of Southern Maine 43-22 at halftime before holding the Huskies to only 14 points in the second half, but it was too late and they had dug too big of a deficit.  Against Castleton on January 18, the Owls led 9-0 right out of the gate but by halftime were down 26-16 and never recovered.  Similarly, KSC trailed 29-14 after one quarter against the University of Massachusetts-Boston on the road and by many as 23 in the first half before storming all the way back for a three-point lead before falling by five.  Western Connecticut State University took a seven-point edge into the locker room (21-14) on January 7 in Keene before eventually winning by three on a banked-in buzzer beater.  Wednesday night against the current second place team in the conference saw the Warriors outscore KSC 21-4 in the second quarter, and that too was enough to propel Eastern Connecticut to a commanding lead that was never threatened in the final 20 minutes, with the 21-point final margin being as close as it ever got.  The Owls made four of nine shots in a 5:13 span of the opening quarter to stay within one on Rylee Burgess' paint layup at the 3:38 mark, but mustered only two other field goals in the half and saw ECSU score 16 consecutive points to open a 25-8 lead 4:09 into the second quarter.  It was 16-8 through one, and then the visitors scored nine more in a row to start the second.  A long two for Jackie Alibrandi broke the field goal drought, but did not provide a rally spark, as Taylor Salato, who had 13 points in 14 minutes in the first half, answered with a layup 19 seconds later.  Her two free throws with 50 seconds left made it 35-10 before it wound up being 37-12 at halftime, with ECSU shooting 45 percent and KSC 22 percent, which included no threes on 11 tries and no free throw attempts.  The Warriors also ran up a 29-11 rebounding advantage, with Anna Barry having 12 herself.

KSC cleaned up some of the numbers in the second half in the end – playing even on the glass (17-17) while shooting 40 percent and 6-for-16 from three-point range – but was unable to slow down Eastern's offense, with the Warriors actually upping their shooting clip to 46 percent in the final 20 minutes, or make much dent in what had grown into a 25-point deficit.

"We hemorrhaged points defensively and were not focused on defense, and that's got to be on me," said Keene State head coach Keith Boucher.  "Defense is all about will.  It's not as much skill as it is will, and I thought in the first half we did not give the effort defensively.  You still have to make shots too.  We made a few at the beginning of the game…got some layups, I thought we got going, but all of the sudden we could not put a beach ball in the ocean for a while so that doesn't help either.  We came back and had a good effort in the second half, but you can't play two bad quarters and try to make up for it against a really good team."

The Owls outscored Eastern Connecticut 14-11 over the opening 6:04 of the opening half to make it a 48-26 game and forced a turnover, but then returned the favor and Barry's basket and free throw ended any run before it could begin.  A Salato layup made it 55-26 with 1:38 left, and KSC trailed 55-29 through three.  ECSU then began the fourth quarter by scoring seven of the first ten points before the Owls won the final 7:06 by a 15-6 count to set the final margin.

It was a strong second half for first year guard Valerie Luizzi, who scored all of her points and and made 3-of-6 from long range in the period.  Samantha Lee added eight points and five rebounds in the final 20 minutes and finished with 10 and seven, respectively.  Aryanna Murray and Burgess had seven points.

Salato, a sophomore, led Eastern Connecticut with 17 points (6-7 FG, 5-5 FT), five shy of her career-high set against Plymouth State University on December 10.  Mariah Dunn added 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting.  Barry had nine points, 13 rebounds, and three assists, and ECSU finished with a 46-28 rebounding advantage.

Inside the Paint

• Luizzi is 8-for-23 (35 percent) from three-point range in the past three games.  She has 11 games with multiple triples in her rookie campaign.
• The Owls are minus-46 on the glass in the last two games.
• KSC has lost 10 straight in the series since winning the 2017 Little East championship against the Warriors in Connecticut.  They have not won a home game against ECSU since 2010.

Up Next

• Keene State visits Western Connecticut State University (12-8, 5-7 LEC) for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, February 4.  The Wolves, currently fifth in the league standings, have lost four straight and seven of nine.
• Eastern Connecticut returns home to play Castleton University (14-6, 7-4 LEC) on the same day (1:00 p.m.).  ECSU is one game behind Rhode Island College for first place and hosts them at home next Wednesday, but was trounced by the Anchorwomen in the first meeting January 4 in Providence.  Castleton has won three straight against WestConn, seventh-place University of Southern Maine, and last place Plymouth State.