DANBURY, Conn. – The Keene State College women's basketball team retook the lead with 5:54 remaining in the opening quarter and newer lost it again as the Owls cruised to their 77-62 victory over Western Connecticut State University on Wednesday afternoon, led by four starters having 14 or more points apiece.

Records

• Keene State: 11-5 (5-2 LEC)
• Western Connecticut: 5-10 (1-6 LEC)

How it Happened


WestConn opened the contest with a layup to take a 2-0 lead on their first possession, but on the Owls' first two possessions Ruby Dasaro assisted Brynn Rautiola for a three and then following a steal from Dasaro, she assisted Rautiola on another three to increase the lead to 6-2 in the opening 1:16. The Wolves retook the lead by scoring on pair of possessions over the next two minutes for the 7-6 lead but it was their last lead of the day as the Owls responded shortly after to retake the lead and never look back. Over the next two and a half minutes KSC went on an 8-0 run as Kiley Bundy hit a pair of threes and Rautiola and Avery Stewart both made a free throw to double up the Wolves, 14-7. Right after the Owls went up by seven, the Wolves scored on back-to-back possessions to pull within a pair with 3:25 remaining in the quarter with a layup from Sara Macary and a three from Malaysia Dingle. The rest of the opening quarter KSC outscored WestConn 5-2 with Dasaro making a pair of free throws and Bundy leading the buzzer with a three to give the Owls a 19-14 lead heading into the second.
 
Rautiola opened the second with a basket for the Owls, but the Wolves cut the lead down to two by scoring on consecutive possessions over the next minute of action. Both teams traded a basket over the next two minutes before the teams combined to score on five of six possessions, favoring the Owls 7-6. Rautiola accounted for all seven of the Owls' three consecutive possessions as she scored a pair of layups and then assisted on a three for Valerie Luizzi with four minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams continued to trade points the rest of the second quarter, with them both scoring six points apiece with Dasaro scoring all the Owls' six points, putting them ahead 36-33 heading into halftime.
 
KSC started to pull away in the third quarter as KSC scored 25 points, the most by a team in a quarter on the day. KSC opened the scoring with back-to-back baskets to open the second half with Dasaro making a layup, followed by Rautiola forcing a steal, leading to her assisting Luizzi for the basket to put KSC up by seven. Both teams traded nine points apiece over the next few minutes as the quarter reached the halfway point. Rautiola led the Owls with three of the nine points, while Luizzi added a basket and assisted Stewart's basket, and Dasaro rounded out the nine points for the Owls. With three minutes remaining, KSC went on a 9-0 run over the next 1:17 as the Owls scored on four consecutive possessions. Bundy scored the first four of the points, while Rautiola assisted Nicole Norton on a three before Bundy tacked on two more points to put the Owls ahead by 16. WestConn outscored the Owls the remainder of the quarter 5-3 as Luizzi assisted Norton on another three to bring the score to 61-47 for KSC heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
The Wolves started to make a comeback at the start of the fourth quarter as they cut the Owls' lead down to seven after scoring seven points over the opening 2:29 of the fourth. Luizzi made a pair of free throws to cut the scoring run for the Wolves, but Macary responded right back with a basket to keep the lead at seven at the halfway point of the fourth. Just as WestConn opened the fourth, the Owls erased their work with their own seven-point run with Dasaro assisting Luizzi for a layup and then again assisting her for a three before Rautiola made a pair of free throws to increase the lead back to 14 with 2:56 remaining. The rest of the way it was all KSC as the Owls tacked on seven more points the rest of the way, compared to just two from WCSU enroute to the 77-62 win.
 
Inside the Paint

• KSC improves to 26-24 in the all-time series between the two teams, having won the three most recent meetings for the first time since 2015-2017.
• The Owls had four starters score over 14 points with Rautiola leading the way with a game-high 18 points to go with three boards and game-highs of eight assists and five steals over her 39 minutes on the court.
• Bundy was close behind Rautiola with 17 points for a season-high on 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the field and 3-for-6 (50%) from three to go with a perfect 4-for-4 at the line across her 40 minutes of action.
• Dasaro and Bundy each recorded 14 points apiece, with Dasaro tallying seven boards, five assists and a pair of steals, while Luizzi had four assists and two steals.
• KSC capitalized on the Wolves' 22 turnovers, scoring 27 points, compared to 12 points off 12 KSC turnovers for WCSU.
• Coach Boucher moves to 499 career wins with the victory. If he wins the Owls' next game, he becomes the 68th coach across all NCAA to reach the mark.

 
Up Next


Keene State has their bye weekend this upcoming weekend as the Owls return to action against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Wednesday, January 21 at 5:30 PM as Coach Boucher looks to become the 68th active coach to reach the 500-career win mark.
Western Connecticut next plays at home again as the Wolves host the University of Vermont State Castleton on Saturday, January 17 at 2:00 PM.