KEENE, N.H. – In year 37 leading the Keene State College women's basketball team, Keith Boucher secured career win number 500 after the Owls picked up their 12th win of the season from a 50-39 win over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Wednesday night.

Records

• Keene State: 12-5 (6-2 LEC)
• UMass-Dartmouth: 6-11 (3-5 LEC)

How it Happened


Both teams got out to a very slow start in the first quarter, with only one point being scored over the opening four minutes of action on a free throw for the Corsairs to take the 1-0 lead. UMD tacked on a pair of baskets over the next few minutes to take a 6-0 lead as KSC had five turnovers to open the contest before scoring their first basket as Sydney Cassidy assisted Brynn Rautiola with 4:13 remaining in the first. KSC then took their first lead of the day as they scored on their next two possessions with Cassidy assisting Ruby Dasaro for a three and then Dasaro assisted Rautiola on another three for the Owls to go up 8-6 with 2:58 remaining in the opening quarter. That was the final basket for KSC in the first as the Owls went 0-for-4 with a pair of turnovers the rest of the quarter, while UMD added eight points to take a 14-8 lead heading into the second.
 
UMD continued their scoring streak from the end of the first quarter into the start of the second, adding four points over the first two and a half minutes of the second to go ahead by 10 from their 12-0 scoring run. KSC went on a 5-2 scoring run over the next minute with Dasaro making a layup and Rautiola scoring three points, but the Corsairs once again answered back with five more points to go back up by 12 over the next three and a half minutes as KSC recorded five more turnovers over the span.
 
The third quarter was the first quarter of the day where the Owls outscored the Corsairs, 15-11 over the 10 minutes of action. Valerie Luizzi helped pull KSC within five as she opened the scoring in the quarter. A minute later, UMD responded with a three to increase the lead back to eight, but at the halfway point in the quarter, Dasaro scored four points across back-to-back possessions to cut the Corsairs' lead in half. Over the next three and a half minutes, UMD went on an 8-2 scoring run, including hitting threes on back-to-back possessions to increase the lead back to double digits, but the Owls responded the rest of the quarter. In the final minute and a half of the third, Cassidy assisted Nicole Norton on a three, Avery Stewart made a pair of free throws, and Rautiola finished the seven-point scoring run off with a layup to pull KSC within three heading into the fourth.
 
It did not take long for the Owls to draw even in the fourth as 58 seconds in following an offensive rebound by Stewart, Dasaro made a three to tie the game up at 39 apiece. Two minutes later, KSC took the lead back for the first time since they took the lead with 2:58 remaining in the first, as following a block by Cassidy, Dasaro tacked on four more points on the other side of the court to go up a pair. The Owls' defense continued to hold strong the rest of the quarter as Rautiola tacked on another basket two minutes later following another block from Cassidy, and a steal from Dasaro. Following a steal from Kiley Bundy, Rautiola made another basket to increase the lead by six with under four minutes remaining in the contest, causing UMD to call a timeout. The Corsairs ensuing possession did not amount to anything other than another block from Cassidy, leading to a technical being called on UMD's head coach, which Rautiola converted on one of the free throws to increase the lead to seven with 3:28 remaining. The remainder of the way, KSC continued to hold strong with Rautiola and Stewart both adding another basket apiece, while UMD could not buy a basket, finishing the fourth quarter 0-for-9 from the field with six turnovers, while the Owls ended the contest on their 21-0 scoring run for the 50-39 victory.
 
Inside the Paint

• KSC improves to 38-24 in the all-time series between the two teams, avenging their loss to UMD in the 2025 LEC tournament semifinals when UMD was receiving votes as a top-25 team in the d3hoops.com rankings.
• Rautiola continued to lead the Owls on the attack in the contest as she scored a team-high 23 points on the night. With her 23 points, Rautiola moved to 1,298 career points, two points away from tying Kristin Degou '10 for the sixth-most points in program history.
• Dasaro finished the contest with 14 points a team-high eight rebounds to with tying for the team-high of four steals.
• Coming into the contest with four blocks, Cassidy surpassed it with five blocks in the Owls' victory in her first game back in a month and a half.
• KSC's 22 turnovers in the contest are tied for the second-most by the Owls in a game this season. KSC scored 26 points across UMD's 29 turnovers, while the Corsairs scored 15 points off 22 turnovers from the Owls.
• Boucher became the 68th active coach in NCAA across all three divisions to reach the 500-career win mark with the victory.

 
Up Next


Keene State is on the road for their next contest as the Owls take on the University of Massachusetts-Boston, looking for the season sweep over the Beacons on Saturday, January 24, at 12:00 PM.
UMass-Dartmouth is on the road again for their next contest as the Corsairs take on the University of Vermont State Castleton on Saturday, January 24, at 12:00 PM.