DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ruby Dasaro opened the scoring for the Keene State College women's basketball team on the team's opening possession, and the Owls did not look back as they picked up the wire-to-wire victory over Framingham State University, 103-69 to bounce back from the defeat the previous day to the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point.

Records

• Keene State: 8-3 (2-0 LEC)
• Framingham State: 4-7 (0-0 MASCAC)

How it Happened


KSC dominated in the opening quarter as the Owls outscored the Rams 28-10 over the first 10 minutes of action. Over the first 5:02 of the contest, the Owls went on a 15-5 run as Valerie Luizzi hit a pair of threes and Avery Stewart hit one, while Dasaro tallied four points and Brynn Rautiola made a layup to round out the scoring run for the Owls. FSU pulled within six over the next minute with a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions, but KSC responded right back with eight points across three possessions with Dasaro hitting another shot, Bella Schultz-Mitchell converting an and-one, and Nicole Norton hitting a three to put KSC ahead by 14 with under two minutes remaining in the first. The Rams tacked on one more point in the opening quarter, while Rautiola scored five for the Owls from a three and pair of free throws on the following possession after picking up a steal to give the Owls a 28-10 lead heading into the second.
 
KSC dominated the second quarter just as they did the first by outscoring the Rams 27-20 in the quarter. FSU started the second on a 9-4 scoring run over the first four minutes of the quarter as Rautiola scored all four points for the Owls, but it did not take long for KSC to respond right back with a 11-4 scoring run over the next two minutes. Over the two-minute span, KSC scored on four of five possessions, going 3-for-4 from three, with Schultz-Mitchell making a three, Luizzi adding another pair of threes, and Rautiola tacking on another layup as the Owls increased the lead back to 20 with four minutes remaining in the opening half. Both teams traded four points over the next 2:15 with Luizzi making a layup and Savanna Scali making a pair of free throws, but the Owls finished the half out strong by scoring on their final four possessions to increase the lead to 25 heading into halftime.
 
Both teams traded eight points apiece over the opening three minutes of the third with Luizzi and Rautiola each hitting a three, while Schultz-Mitchell made a jumper for KSC. Over the next four minutes, KSC went on a 14-5 run to increase their lead to 34, led by six points from Rautiola from a pair of threes. Norton and Dasaro each accounted for three points apiece, while Luizzi rounded out the scoring with a layup as the Owls had their largest lead of the day with under three minutes remaining in the third. FSU outscored the Owls 5-2 in the remainder of the third as Kiley Bundy hit a pair of free throws for KSC as the Owls took their 79-48 lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
The final quarter was the closest scoring margin in a quarter on the day, but it was still in the Owls' favor as KSC outscored FSU 24-21 in the fourth. Dasaro kicked off the scoring for the Owls in the fourth with a steal leading to her making a pair of free throws to start the span of KSC scoring on eight of their next nine possessions over the opening 5:16 of the fourth. Angel Pillsbury led the Owls on the scoring span with seven points, followed by five from Anna Brown as KSC increased the lead to 40 with under five minutes remaining in the contest. The rest of the contest FSU outscored KSC 11-5 as Brown added another three for KSC, assisted by Arhianna Fernandes (to reach a career-high eight points on the day), and then Brown assisted Charlotte Buckley for a layup, following a steal from Isabelle Glenn-Smith as the Owls held the Rams late push off for a 103-69 victory.
 
Inside the Paint

• Keene State improves to 1-2 in the all-time series against FSU as the Owls had lost in the only other two meetings between the two teams, coming in 2017 and 2024 by an average of 17 points each game.
• Rautiola once again scored the team-high for the Owls as this time her 25 points was a game-high coming from 9-for-20 (45 %) from the field, to go with her three assists, three boards, and three steals. Her 25 points brings her to 1,195 career points, tying Tina Gonyea '90 for 12th in program history for scoring.
• Luizzi finished the contest with 19 points in just 20 minutes from 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the field and 5-for-9 (55.6%) from three, to go with three assists as she moves to just seven points away from becoming the 22nd member of the 1,000 career point club.
• Dasaro was the third Owl to reach double-digits in the contest as she finished with 13 points, tied Rautiola and Luizzi for the game-high with three assists, to go with a pair of steals and three rebounds.
• Schultz-Mitchell had the best game of her freshman season for the Owls in the win as she recorded a new career-high 11 points on 100% shooting on the day (4-for-4 from the field, 2-for-2 from three, and 1-for-1 at the line) to go with a team-high seven rebounds. Shultz-Mitchell also tied Rautiola for the game-high in steals with three, to go with her two assists and block.
• Norton was the third Owl to record a career-high in points as she recorded eight from a pair of threes on three attempts, to go with going 2-for-2 at the line.

 
Up Next


Keene State returns home for their next contest as the Owls return to Little East Conference action against the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, January 3, at 1:00 PM.
Framingham State kicks off MASCAC action in their next contest, as the Rams will host Westfield State University also on Saturday, January 3, but at 5:30 PM.