WESTMINSTER, MD. – Depleted down to just six healthy Owls, the Keene State College women's basketball team traveled down to McDaniel College to take on Brooklyn College in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) semifinal matchup. After giving up the lead a few minutes into the game and down by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, the Owls came back to retake the lead late in the fourth, but Brooklyn pulled away late and ended the Owls' season with the 65-61 defeat.

Records

• No 3. Keene State: 19-10 (11-5 LEC)
• No. 2 Brooklyn: 24-4 (14-0 CUNYAC)

How it Happened


Brooklyn opened the scoring in the contest with Aaliyah McCalla scoring five points across the first two possessions for the Bulldogs. KSC took their first lead of the game 2:30 into the quarter as Bella Schultz-Mitchell assisted Kiley Bundy for a three and on the ensuing possession Brynn Rautiola made her first three of the day to put KSC up one. The Owls' lead did not last long as Brooklyn scored on three of their next four possessions to retake the lead and go up seven halfway through the quarter. Rautiola ended the scoring run for the Bulldogs with a three and free throw shortly after, but BC responded with a pair of baskets on consecutive possessions to increase the lead to seven with 3:10 remaining on the clock. Avery Stewart hit a shot to pull the Owls within five a minute later, but after both teams traded a made free throw, BC added another two baskets on their last two possessions of the game to take a 22-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
Brooklyn was unable to maintain their momentum as they had an extremely slow start in the second quarter, allowing the Owls to pull within a point. Kate Canavan opened the scoring in the quarter with a three for the Owls, followed by a layup from Rautiola shortly after before Schultz-Mitchell brought the Owls within one with a three with 5:21 remaining in the opening half. Both teams traded a pair of baskets over the next two minutes with Canavan scoring both for the Owls to keep the difference at one for the moment. The rest of the opening half BC went on a five-point run and looked to take a six-point lead into the half, but the Bulldogs were called for a foul on Rautiola's three at the buzzer and she hit two of her free throws to cut the lead to four at the half.
 
Despite Stewart's three early in the second half for the Owls, BC went on an 8-3 run over the first two minutes of the third to go back up nine. Both teams traded three points over the next two minutes as Rautiola made another three and Canavan scored a layup from Bundy for KSC before Brooklyn scored another layup with 4:20 remaining to increase their lead to 11. The rest of the third KSC outscored the Bulldogs 5-2 as Stewart hit another three and Rautiola beat the buzzer to pull KSC within a pair heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
 
After the Owls didn't score on the first possession of the quarter, KSC got hot and scored on their next four possessions as they went on a 11-2 run to retake the lead over the opening 2:43 of the fourth. Charlotte Buckley opened the scoring run by hitting back-to-back threes, including beating the shot clock on a deep three, followed by a three from Bundy and a field goal from Buckley to give KSC the lead. BC drew even 32 seconds later and both teams continued to trade baskets back-and-forth as each of the four times the Owls took the lead, BC answered right back to tie the game back up. Four different Owls scored over the next four minutes, each time giving KSC the lead, as Buckley made a pair of free throws, and then Rautiola, Stewart, and Schultz-Mitchell each made a layup, only to be answered right back by the Bulldogs every time. With 2:04 remaining in the contest after tying the game up once again, BC retook the lead by one following an and-one by Brianna Jackson. After each team turned over the ball over once, the Owls were not able to get a clean shot off before the shot clock went off with 1:18 remaining. The Bulldogs were able to beat the Owls' press twice on their next two possessions to go up five before Rautiola fought through the contact to bring the Owls back within three with 13 seconds left. Anna Kitch hit both her free throws for BC after the Owls intentionally fouled. Schultz-Mitchell brought the Owls back within three with seven seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs made one of their two next free throws to put the game out of reach and ending the Owls' 2025-2026 season.
 
"Us coaches could not be any prouder than the team that came with us on the trip and the six that stepped on the court for us today," said Owls' head coach Keith Boucher. "We had a great season and at the end of every season you always lose somebody and this time we lost Avery (Stewart). Avery has been our M.I.P. (most important player); she came in and played a new position and has never told me no when she has been asked to do something. She is the ultimate team player on and off the court and does the things that don't always show up on the stat sheets, like how she took two charges today."

Rautiola was also named to the ECAC All-Tournament team, with the rest of the team to be named following the conclusion of the ECAC Championship game Sunday.
 
Inside the Paint

• Rautiola led the Owls on the attack, scoring a game-high 19 points, her 18th game of 29 (62.1%) of games on the season with the game-high in scoring. Rautiola also logged six rebounds and three assists as she brought her season-total to 571 points, pushing the new single season scoring record for the Owls to 79 points past the previous record that stood for 39 years. Her 19.7 points per game ranked the third-best mark in a single season in program history.
• Rautiola and Bundy both played a full 40 minutes of action for the Owls as Bundy finished with six points to go with her four rebounds and four assists.
• Stewart rounds out her career as an Owl with 36 minutes played as she recorded 10 points and seven rebounds, bringing her career total for boards to 411 which ranks tied for the 25th-most in a career in program history.
• Schultz-Mitchell saw a collegiate career-high 37 minutes of action in the final game of her freshman season for the Owls as she finished with seven points, tying Stewart for the team-high seven rebounds, and tying Bundy with a team-high four assists.
• Canavan played a collegiate career-high 23 minutes in the contest and scored a collegiate career-high nine points on 44.4% from the field (4-for-9) to go with her two assists.
• Buckley followed up her career-high last game of 13 points with 10 points in the contest on 33.3% (3-for-9) shooting.
• Brooklyn capitalized on their second chance points, scoring 15 to just four points from KSC on second chance opportunities.
• Despite not being able to play in the game due to an injury, despite making the long travel with the team, Ruby Dasaro rounds out her sophomore season for KSC with 84 steals on the year, tied for the 25th most in all of NCAA Division III women's basketball this season and tied with Tina Gonyea's 1989-1990 season for the third most steals in a single season in program history for the Owls.
• Rautiola's 111 free throws made are the sixth most in a single season in program history, while her 72 threes made are the 10th-most in a single season in program history and 194 field goals made are the fourth-most in a single season in program history.

 
Up Next


Keene State ends the season with a 19-10 record, while Brooklyn College moved to take on McDaniel College on Sunday, March 15, in the ECAC Championship.