DANBURY, Conn. – After outscoring the Western Connecticut State University Wolves 33-17 in the opening half of the contest, the Keene State College women's basketball team cruised to a 61-42 win to pick up the season series against WCSU.
Records
- Keene State: 11-12 (6-7 LEC)
- Western Connecticut: 5-19 (3-12 LEC)
How it Happened
Samantha Lee opened the scoring on the Owls' first possession of the game with a layup, and Nia Rencher hit a free throw for the Wolves on their opening possession. With a basket from each
Ruby Dasaro and
Valerie Luizzi for the Owls, compared to just one free throw for the Wolves, KSC moved to a 6-2 lead with 4:48 left in the opening quarter. KSC increased their lead to five after another WCSU made free throw and
Avery Stewart making a layup for the Owls with 2:05 remaining. The Wolves scored on their last two possessions of the opening quarter to tie the game up at eight apiece with 22 second on the clock. Lee answered right back as she grabbed the offensive rebound with a couple seconds remaining and put it back up and in the basket to give KSC a 10-8 lead heading into the second quarter.
KSC had one of their best quarters of the season in the second, as they outscored the Wolves 23-9 across the 10 minutes of play. KSC opened the second by scoring seven straight points in the first three minutes, with a jumper from Rautiola, a three from Luizzi, and a layup from Lee. Fatmata Barrie stopped the Owls' scoring run with a basket for the Wolves, but KSC scored eight more in a row, with a three from Rautiola and five points from Bundy to give the Owls a 25-10 lead. Over the next two and a half minutes, KSC outscored WCSU 5-4 with Rautiola hitting a three and
Lilly Krysinski making a layup, while Nia Rencher scored four for the Wolves. Rencher traded two points with Rautiola over each teams' next possession and each team tacked on a free throw in the closing seconds of the half, giving KSC a 33-17 lead at the break.
After Dasaro and Alyssa Virtue traded baskets, Luizzi hit a three to increase the Owls' lead to 19, 2:38 into the third. Virtue hit made another layup shortly after, but Dasaro scored six straight points to put KSC up by 23 with 3:56 remaining in the third. Rencher halted Dasaro's scoring run with an and-one, but Dasaro and Lee answered back with a basket each to give KSC what would be their largest lead of the game, up by 24. Lee and Barrie traded baskets, followed by three points from WCSU in the closing minutes to give the Owls a 50-29 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
WCSU outscored KSC 7-5 in the opening 3:04 of the quarter as Rautiola and Cameron Froehlich each scored five points for their teams, while Nicole Peralta added another basket for the Wolves. The remaining nearly seven minutes of the fourth, both teams only scored six points apiece, as the Owls easily coasted to their 61-42 lead over the Wolves in the end.
Inside the Paint
- With the win, the Owls improve to 25-34 in the all-time series between the two programs.
- After starting out the first quarter 0-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-5 from three, Rautiola bounced right back and scored 11 of her game-high of 16 points in the second quarter, as she went 3-for-3 from the field, including 2-for-2 from three and 3-for-4 at the line.
- Dasaro and Lee were close behind Rautiola, as they scored 14 and 11 points, respectively.
- Dasaro tallied all her 14 points in just 25 minutes, as she fouled out for the first time in her collegiate career.
- KSC capitalized on the Wolves' 23 turnovers, as they converted it to 23 points, compared to WCSU scoring just eight on KSC's 14 turnovers.
Up Next
Keene State returns home for their next game as they host the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Wednesday, February 19, at 5:30 PM.
Western Connecticut plays their last game of the season against UMD on the road for their next contest on Saturday, February 22, at 1:00 PM.
