FRANKLIN, Mass. – The Owls bounced right back after suffering their first loss of the season in the previous contest as the Keene State College women's basketball team used a balanced attack with six scorers in double digits to dominate Dean College, 107-62 in the road.

Records

• Keene State: 3-1
• Dean: 1-5

How it Happened


Over the opening quarter of action, Brynn Rautiola single-handedly matched the Bulldogs as she tallied 12 of the Owls 32 points in the first quarter, with Valerie Luizzi not too far behind with 11 points for KSC. Luizzi opened the scoring for the Owls on their first possession of the contest, but Dean answered back with scoring on back-to-back possessions to take what was their only lead of the contest, up 4-3, 1:21 into the game. The Owls regained the lead with another Luizzi three, and then jumped ahead by six following Luizzi and Rautiola each coming up with a steal and the ensuing basket for the Owls before Dean scored their third basket of the contest with 6:29 left in the first. Over the next 4:30, KSC went on a 17-2 run, led by seven points from Rautiola. Kiley Bundy and Ruby Dasaro also contributed two points apiece, while Luizzi and Nicole Norton each hit a three to put KSC ahead by 19 with 1:59 remaining. Bundy made another layup while Luizzi assisted Rautiola on a three, while DC scored four points in the remainder of the first, and the Owls took their 32-12 lead into the second quarter.
 
DC outscored the Owls 6-2 over the opening 4:14 of the second quarter, but then both offenses caught fire as the teams combined to score on seven of eight consecutive possessions over the next 1:52, with Angel Pillsbury and Avery Stewart converting layups and Luizzi and Stewart hitting threes as KSC went ahead by 21. Dasaro recorded a pair of steals shortly after for the Owls, leading to a basket for each her and Stewart to increase the lead to 25 for the Owls. In the final 2:06 of the opening half, KSC outscored DC 5-4 with Stewart making another pair of layups to bring her point total to 11 of the 13 for the Owls over a 2:54 span. Bundy tacked on another free throw for the Owls to close out the first half as the Owls took a 53-27 lead into the second half.
 
The Owls' attack dominated in the third quarter as they outscored the Bulldogs 30-7 over the first 10 minutes of the second half. Stewart opened the scoring in the second half to increase her total to 13 of the Owls' 16 points over the 4:34 span of game time. KSC tacked on 11 more points in a row to make it 13 consecutive points to open the scoring in the first 1:54 of the second half. Sydney Cassidy and Dasaro each tallied four of the points, while Rautiola hit another three and the Owls went ahead by 39 before DC had their first basket of the second half. Both teams' offenses slowed down over the next six minutes as KSC outscored DC 8-5 over the next six minutes, led by six points from Cassidy. KSC scored on four of their final five possessions to close out the third quarter, compared to DC going two for five, as Bella Schultz-Mitchell, Lilly Krysinski, and Norton each made a field goal, while Pillsbury hit a three to put KSC ahead 83-34 heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
The fourth quarter was the highest scoring quarter of the day as 52 points were scored in the 10 minutes with DC having the 28-24 advantage. KSC opened the scoring over the opening 3:50 of the final quarter on a 9-0 run with Bundy scoring seven points and Charlotte Buckley scoring her first collegiate basket. After Dean responded right back with seven points in a row over two minutes, the Owls defense caused a pair of turnovers leading to baskets as Anna Brown caused a turnover leading to her scoring a basket and then Keeleigh Capps stealing the ball for Bundy's 14th points on the day with a layup. DC logged 22 points the remainder of the contest, including a three from half court banked off the glass from Alana Zirlis to cut the lead from 48-45 for the Owls in the final. KSC scored 11 points the rest of the contest with Arhianna Fernandes scoring her first collegiate basket, to go with baskets from Buckley, Capps, and five points from Canavan to make the final score 107-62.
 
Inside the Paint

• KSC comes away with the win in the first-ever meeting between the two programs, scoring 107 points, the most points by the Owls since their 108-62 win over Lasell University back on January 9, 2014.
• The 32 points by KSC in the opening quarter are the most in a quarter in almost two years, when the Owls last scored 36 points in the third quarter in their 98-45 win over Vermont State Johnson on November 28, 2023.
• Rautiola once again led the Owls on the attack with a game-high 17points, 12 of which came in the first quarter, in just 19 minutes of action.
• Bundy and Luizzi both scored 14 apiece, while Stewart was close behind with 13 points, with all her points coming over a 4:34 span across the end of the second quarter and start of the third.
• Luizzi's last basket put her at 900 career points on the dot as she looks to become the 22nd Owl to reach the 1,000 point club later in her senior season.
• Stewart and Schultz-Mitchell both finished tied for a game-high of eight rebounds in the contest.
• Cassidy and Dasaro finished with 10 apiece, while Dasaro had game-highs with six assists and five steals.

 
Up Next


Keene State is on the road for their third of four games in a row for the Morin Memorial Tournament at Williams College against Plattsburgh University on Friday, November 21, at 8:00 PM for the Owls' next matchup.
Dean is also on the road for their next contest as the Bulldogs take on Worcester State University on Thursday, November 20, at 7:00 PM.