KEENE, N.H. – Five different Owls logged double-digit points, with Valerie Luizzi leading the way with 16 on Thursday night in part of the Keene State College women's basketball team's 73-54 win over Western Connecticut State University to get back to .500 in Little East Conference play on the season.

Records

• Keene State: 7-8 (3-3 LEC)
• Western Connecticut: 5-9 (4-1 LEC)

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Kiley Bundy)

How it Happened
The Owls led from the jump in the first as Samantha Lee won the opening tipoff right to Ruby Dasaro, who scored a layup seconds into the contest to put KSC up a pair. After the Owls opening score, only three baskets were scored over the next seven minutes of play, with both coming from the Owls. Dasaro made another layup, followed by one from Avery Stewart and then with 3:06 left in the opening quarter, Kiley Bundy hit her first three of the game to put KSC up 9-0. Deona Garcia scored the first points for WCSU with a layup, and both teams traded baskets on both of their next possessions with Stewart scoring for KSC and Nin Rencher grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring for WCSU to cut the Owls' lead to seven with 2:04 left in the first. The remainder of the first, both teams traded a pair of points with Bundy going 2-for-2 at the line and Rencher making another layup as the Owls took their 13-6 lead heading into the second quarter. 
 
The Owls doubled up the Wolves in the second, as they outscored them 20-10 to head into the half. Aryanna Murray and Luizzi both made layups in the first three minutes of the seconds to give KSC an 11-point lead. Both teams tallied four points over the next two minutes as scored a basket and on the next possession grabbed an offensive board leading to Luizzi going 2-for-2 at the line for KSC. The rest of the quarter, WCSU only scored six points, both coming from Nicole Peralta, while on the Owls' side, KSC scored 12 points, including 10 straight to end the opening half. Lee tallied four of the Owls' 12 points, along with Bundy going 4-for-4 at the free throw line and Dasaro and Murray also tacking on two points apiece to give KSC a 33-16 lead heading into the second half.
 
Western Connecticut came out of the gates hot to start the third, as they opened on a 16-4 run over the first 5:24 of the quarter, with Malaysia Dingle leading the way with seven of the Wolves 16 points to cut the Owls' lead to just five. It took a little while, but the Owls found their grove to end the rest of the quarter, as they went on a run themselves, as KSC scored 12 points straight to close out the remaining 4:36 of the quarter. After Bundy hit back-to-back threes to increase the Owls' lead back to 11, Luizzi added a jumper with 1:15 remaining. In the final minute of the third, Stewart tacked on a made free throw, followed by Dasaro assisting Luizzi on a buzzer-beating three to put the Owls up 49-32 heading into the final quarter of play.
 
The Owls jumped out to a 23-point lead three minutes into the fourth after opening the quarter on an 8-2 run. Lilly Krysinski opened the scoring for KSC with a layup and Murray made two of her own shortly after, Dasaro stole the ball on defense leading to an easy basket to put KSC up 57-34. Western Connecticut hadn't given up yet, as they went on to outscore KSC 14-4 over the next three minutes, led by six points from Dingle. KSC went 5-for-8 from the line over the next minute, with Lee making a layup soon after to increase the Owls' lead to 19 with 2:22 remaining. Both teams traded a few baskets back-and-forth the rest of the game, but Angel Pillsbury's three from Stewart with 25 seconds remaining put the nail in the coffin and secured the 73-54 win for the Owls.
 
Inside the Paint

• With the win, the Owls still trail the Wolves in the all-time series history, 24-34 but their 19-point win is the second-largest win over the Wolves in the 58-game series history.
• Five Owls recorded double-digits, with Luizzi leading the way by tying the game-high of 16, followed by 15 from Bundy on 3-for-8 (37.5%) from the field, 3-for-7 (42.9%) from three, and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line.
• Dasaro recorded 11 points, while Stewart and Lee finished with 10 apiece as lee went 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-4 from the line and led KSC with eight rebounds.
• KSC capitalized on the Wolves' 23 turnovers, scoring 16 points, compared to Western Connecticut scoring just nine on KSC's 18 turnovers.
• KSC led the game wire-to-wire, only not possessing the lead in the opening four seconds when no points were scored.

 
Up Next


Keene State is back at home for their next matchup, as they will host Rhode Island College on Saturday, January 18, at 2:00 PM.
Western Connecticut plays at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 PM for their next game.