WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – 40 minutes of regulation was not enough to find a winner in the Friday night contest between the Keene State College women's basketball team and Plattsburgh State, as it would take until the end of the third overtime period where Plattsburgh came away with the 90-85 victory.

Records

• Keene State: 3-2
• Plattsburgh: 4-1

How it Happened


Plattsburgh wound up with a 19-15 lead after the opening quarter as the teams traded the lead back-and-forth over the opening 10 minutes of action. After Plattsburgh opened the contest with a basket, the teams combined to score on five consecutive possessions with Sydney Cassidy scoring five for KSC and Brynn Rautiola hit a three as KSC took an 8-7 lead with 6:56 remaining. 1:40 later Plattsburgh retook the lead, but it didn't last long as Avery Stewart hit her first three of the day for KSC, 5:01 into the first. Over the next 3:29, the Cardinals jumped ahead again from a three and layup to go ahead by three. Ruby Dasaro and Nicole Norton each made a field goal in the remainder of the opening quarter, while PS scored five more and took a four-point lead into the second quarter.
 
The second quarter was the lowest scoring quarter on the day with just 21 points over the 10 minutes. KSC opened the first four minutes of the quarter on a 7-2 scoring run with a pair of free throws from Bella Schulz, a layup from Stewart, and a three from Valerie Luizzi to regain the lead. Cassidy tacked on four more points for KSC over the next three minutes, but Imami Walcott led the Cardinals with six of their eight consecutive points to close out the scoring in the final few minutes of the first half as Plattsburgh took a 29-26 lead into the second half.
 
The Cardinals had an 11-4 run to open the scoring in the second half to increase their lead to a game-high of 10-point lead 2:51 into the third quarter. Over the following 3:25, the Owls stormed back to tie the game back up at 40 apiece with six points from Cassidy and four from Dasaro. After the Owls' hot streak to tie the game up, they went cold the rest of the third quarter as KSC went 0-3 from the field with a turnover in the final 3:44 of the quarter and was outscored 6-1 over the span and the Cardinals took a 46-41 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
Plattsburgh continued to apply the pressure at the start of the fourth quarter as they outscored the Owls 10-5 over the opening 2:13 of the final quarter to go back ahead by 10, despite a three from Norton and a layup from Savanna Scali for KSC. Just as the Owls did halfway through the third quarter, they stormed right back in the fourth, this time with 11 points in a row over the next 3:13 to retake the lead by a point. Luizzi led the Owls with six of the 11 points to retake the lead, along with a three from Stewart and a layup from Rautiola. Both teams traded baskets over the next 1:10 as the Owls increased their lead to a pair following a layup from Stewart with 1:48 remaining. Walcott tied the game up with 30 seconds remaining, but Rautiola responded right back with a layup with 16 seconds left on the clock to give KSC the lead again. Walcott once again saved the Cardinals late in the contest as she grabbed an offensive rebound with three seconds remaining and tied the contest up at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 64 apiece.
 
Both teams only scored five points apiece over the first five-minute overtime period. Walcott and Stewart traded a free throw over the first minute, and Stewart put the Owls back up with a three on the following possession, but the Cardinals answered right back with a three to tie the game up once again on their next chance. Cassidy put the Owls ahead with a free throw with 1:37 remaining, but Walcott responded with another free throw to tie the game up and send the contest to another overtime period tied at 69.
 
Plattsburgh got out to a hot start in the second overtime, scoring six points in the opening 1:32 of the period to none for KSC. The Owls responded right back with a three from each Stewart and Dasaro on back-to-back possessions to tie the game up at 75 with 2:55 on the clock. The Cardinals took the lead again with four free throws to one jumper from Cassidy over the next 1:25 to take the lead by a pair. After the Owls' offense was unable to get going, Walcott sank a free throw when the Owls intentionally fouled to go ahead by three, but a three from Luizzi with six seconds remaining tied the game at 80 to force a third overtime.
 
Cassidy put KSC ahead at the start of the third overtime period on the Owls' first possession, but KSC seemed to run out of steam as the Cardinals went on to score 10 consecutive points as the only other basket for the Owls in the third overtime period was a three from Cassidy at the buzzer to cut the final score to 90-85.
 
Inside the Paint

• KSC falls to 1-1 in the all-time series between the two teams, as KSC won the only previous matchup back on December 30, in 2011, 67-57 in Westwego, La.
• Three Owls finished with double doubles as Cassidy led the way with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Stewart logged 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Dasaro finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• Luizzi finished the contest with a game-high seven steals, while Dasaro continued her tear with six steals to bring her season average to 3.8 steals per game.
• Luizzi and Dasaro also led the way on assists for KSC as Luizzi had five, Dasaro had four, while Rautiola was close behind with three to go with her team-high two blocks.
• Plattsburgh turned the ball over 32 times resulting in 31 points for KSC off turnovers, compared to 10 turnovers from KSC for three points off turnovers for the Cardinals.
• Walcott finished the game with a game-high 34 points to go with her game-high 20 boards.

 
Up Next


Keene State returns at 1:00 PM on Saturday, November 22, for the consolation game of the Morin Memorial Tournament against Saint Josephs (Conn.), while Plattsburgh will play against Williams College in the championship game at 3:00 PM.