DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Brynn Rautiola tallied 24 points for the Keene State College women's basketball team, but the Owls scored just 10 points combined over the first and third quarters and were unable to comeback and defeat the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, as UMD ended the Owls season with a final score of 66-54.

Records

• Keene State: 13-14 (8-8 LEC)
• UMass-Dartmouth: 22-4 (14-2 LEC)

How it Happened


Both teams started out the contest flat as they scored a combined 15 points in the first 10 minutes of play as UMD had a 11-4 lead after the opening quarter. UMD scored all their 11 points to open the first by jumping out to a 11-0 lead in the opening 6:59 of play. After opening the quarter going 0-for-9 from the field, KSC finally got on the board as Valerie Luizzi made a layup with 59 seconds left in the first. Rautiola scored her first two points of the day with three seconds remaining as KSC went 1-for-11 (9.1%) from the field in the opening quarter. KSC also recorded seven turnovers in the opening quarter as KSC opened the game by turning the ball over on their first four possessions.
 
The offenses for both teams exploded in the second quarter as both teams combined for 43 points, combined to just 15 in the previous quarter. Both teams traded a three pointer early in the quarter and following another the teams trading baskets again, Rautiola hit another three to cut the Corsairs' lead to four. Rautiola added her third three across five KSC possessions, shortly after Avery Stewart traded a basket with UMD as the Owls cut the Corsairs' lead to three with 5:30 remaining in the half. Both teams continued to pile on the points over the next 2:55 as UMD outscored KSC 7-5 over the span, with Ruby Dasaro hitting a three and Luizzi making a layup as UMD increased their lead back to five. Over the next minute, KSC scored on both their possessions with Dasaro making a layup and Rautiola adding her fourth triple of the quarter, while Carly Whiteside hit a jumper for UMD to give the Corsairs just a two-point lead with 1:35 remaining in the opening half. The rest of the half, Amaris Mills scored four points for the Corsairs while Luizzi scored another basket for KSC as UMD took a 31-27 lead into the second half.
 
The second half started out sloppy for both teams as they combined for six turnovers over the first nine possessions of the quarter, spanning 6:42. Dasaro scored the only basket over the opening nine combined possessions as she pulled KSC within a pair, but over a five-possession span soon after, Kaylin Zalewski scored in four of the possessions, tallying 11 points for the Beacons and increasing their lead to 42-29 with 4:16 left in the third. The rest of the third, UMD outscored the Owls, 5-4 to take a 47-33 lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation for one of the teams on the season.
 
In the opening two minutes of the fourth, KSC scored six points coming from four points from Dasaro and a pair of free throws from Rautiola, while Zalewski made a layup for UMD as KSC tried to start to make a comeback attempt. Zalewski and Teja Andrews combined for five points in a row for UMD over the next 2:25 to halt the Owls' comeback attempt for the moment as the Corsairs increased their lead back to 15. Rautiola and Zalewski traded threes on back-to-back possessions as the quarter reached under the halfway point and KSC tacked on three free throws shortly after to cut the lead to 12 with 4:06 remaining. Over the next 58 seconds, the teams combined to score on four of five possessions with Whiteside scoring four points for UMD and Rautiola tallying five for KSC as the Owls were able to get as close to within nine points of the Corsairs' lead. That was as close as KSC would get the rest of the way as UMD cruised the rest of the way to a 66-54 victory as Angel Pillsbury and Lilly Krysinski both scored a basket in the closing seconds of the game for the Owls.
 
Inside the Paint

• With the loss, KSC falls to 37-24 in the all-time series between the two teams.
• The Owls escaped the first round of the LEC tournament for the first time since they won the whole thing back in the 2016-2017 season.
• Rautiola once again finished with a game-high as she recorded 24 points on 6-for-14 (42.9%) from the field, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three and 6-for-7 (85.7%) from the line.
• Dasaro was the only other Owl to reach double-digit scoring in the contest as she finished with 13 points to bring her season average to 9.5 PPG in her first year with KSC.
• Between the first and third quarters, KCS shot 4-for-25 (16%) from the field and 0-for-7 from three, compared to 9-for-13 (69.3%) from the field in the second quarter, including 5-for-6 (83.3%).
• UMD capitalized on second chance points as they scored 21 to just four from the Owls.
• Luizzi finished the day with nine points. She currently sits at 851 career points over her first three years at KSC, 149 from the 1,000-career point milestone as she has averaged 11.5 PPG thus far.
• Rautiola finishes the season with 470 points, the sixth most in a season in program history as she finishes her first two years as an Owl with 961 points (tied for the 21st most in program history). Her 18.8 PPG on the year is the fifth-best mark in a season for KSC. Rautiola finished the season with 82 threes made, the second most in a season, to go with the fourth-best free throw percentage (.829). Her 150 threes made in the first two seasons are tied for the tenth most in program history for a career. At the moment, Rautiola currently leads the program in free throw percentage with an .844 mark (243-for-288).

 
Up Next


Keene State's 2024-2025 season comes to a close with the defeat. The Owls will graduate three seniors, as captains Kenzie Durnford, Samantha Lee, and Aryanna Murray will graduate this spring. We wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavors!
No. 1 UMass-Dartmouth hosts No. 3 University of Southern Maine for LEC Championship on Saturday, March 1 at 1:00 PM with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament on the line.