KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's basketball team hosted Lehman College at Spaulding Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon for bonus postseason basketball in the ECAC Quarterfinals and despite the Owls' 22-point second quarter lead slipping away late in the fourth quarter, Bella Schultz-Mitchell hit a late three to force overtime and the Owls prevailed, 75-69, to advance to next weekend for the semifinals.

Records

• No 3. Keene State: 19-9 (11-5 LEC)
• No. 6 Lehman: 16-11 (10-4 CUNYAC)

How it Happened


The Owls dominated in the opening quarter as KSC outscored LC 30-11 over the opening 11 minutes of action. Lehman opened the scoring with a basket on their opening possession of the game and the Owls answered back with four points a couple minutes later as Bella Schultz-Mitchell hit a free throw and then assisted Kiley Bundy's three to take a 4-2 lead. Isabella Araujo responded with five points across the next two possessions for the Lightning to retake the 7-4 lead but Brynn Rautiola her first three of the day for KSC a minute and a half later to tie the game again. Following the under-five minute media timeout LC retook the lead again with a pair of free throws, but the Owls scored on their next six possessions over the following 2:30 to go up 23-11. KSC assisted on all five of their non-free throw baskets over the span as Bundy opened the scoring up with a layup, followed by a three from Charlotte Buckley, two threes from Rautiola, another three from Buckley, and a pair of free throws from Rautiola to round out the scoring run. After failing to score on the next two possessions, KSC scored on their final three possessions in the final minute of the opening quarter as Schultz-Mitchell hit both her free throws, Dasaro hit a layup, and following a Schultz-Mitchell offensive rebound, she assisted Rautiola's third three to give KSC the 30-11 lead after the first.
 
The Lightning stormed back in the second quarter, outscoring KSC 20-9 the rest of the opening half. Three of the Owls' nine points came in the opening 1:09 of the second as Bundy made a layup and Schultz-Mitchell followed it up with a free throw to increase the lead 22, the largest for KSC in the contest. Araujo scored four in a row for the Lightning to start the comeback, but Bundy halted it for the moment with a three with 7:24 remaining in the second. Over the next five and a half minutes LC went on an 11-0 run before Bundy assisted Rautiola for a three to end the scoring run. The rest of the opening half LC tacked on five more points to cut the Owls' lead to 39-31 heading into halftime.
 
KSC opened the second half off by scoring on their opening two possessions with a layup from Dasaro and three from Rautiola, but LC scored on three of their next five possessions to pull back within seven with 5:21 remaining in the third. Both teams traded a basket on the ensuing possession before the Owls scored on three of their four next possessions over the next two and a half minutes to increase the lead back to 13. The rest of the way in the third, the Lightning went on a 6-0 run to cut the Owls' lead to seven with 10 minutes of regulation remaining.
 
The Owls struggled to open the final quarter as KSC missed their first 12 shots from the field in the fourth. Both teams got off to a slow start in the quarter as LC scored on their first possession and then neither team scored for nearly five minutes before Avery Stewart made a free throw for the Owls before the Lightning responded with a layup to cut the lead to just three with 4:45 remaining. The first field goal from KSC in the final quarter came as Buckley hit another three with 3:13 remaining, but LC wouldn't back down as Emily Kennedy converted an and-one on the ensuing possession to cut the lead back to three again. Bundy increased the lead for KSC to four on the next possession with a made free throw, but the Lightning went on a 7-0 scoring run to retake the lead by three in the closing two minutes for their first lead since the first quarter. In the final two minutes, KSC missed five consecutive shots, including one from Buckley with eight seconds remaining. Fortunately for the Owls, the rebound bounced back to Schultz-Mitchell behind the arc, who had shot 14-for-38 (36.8%) from three coming into the game and buried the deep shot to tie the game up with three seconds remaining in regulation. Following a Lehman timeout, the Lightning were able to push the ball and get a shot off, but it missed the mark, sending the game into overtime for just the second time this season for KSC.
 
The Owls came out of the gates hot in the extra five-minute period as Buckley hit a three to go with layups from Schultz-Mitchell and Stewart to give KSC a 67-60 lead with 3:09 remaining in OT. LC scored on their next two possessions over the next minute, while Rautiola added a FT for the Owls, as the Lightning cut the lead to three. In the closing minute of the overtime period, LC continued to intentionally foul the Owls, hoping to draw closer, but KSC outscored Lehman 7-4 led by four points from Rautiola as KCS held on for the 75-69 victory.
 
Inside the Paint

• Rautiola led the Owls on the attack, scoring a game-high 27 points, including six threes to go with her five boards and pair of steals.
• Bundy and Buckley both recorded 13 points. Bundy hit a pair of threes to go with her seven rebounds and three assists, while Buckley entered the game with 10 points across her 11 appearances this season and surpassed it with four threes and a free throw in the win.
• Schultz-Mitchell nearly recorded her first career collegiate double-double in her first collegiate start, finishing the game with nine points and a collegiate career-highs of 10 rebounds and five assists.
• Despite five points in the contest, Stewart played a quite but extremely crucial part to the Owls' victory as she recorded a game-high team-high 16 rebounds, which is also the senior's career high and the most rebounds by an Owl this season, with six of the 16 coming on the offensive end.
• Dasaro also nearly had a double-double as she scored eight points to go with her career-high 14 rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Her two steals move her to 84 steals on the season, tied with Tina Gonyea from the 1989-1990 season for the third-most steals by an Owl in program history.

 
Up Next


Keene State hits the road for the ECAC semifinals next weekend as the Owls will take on Brooklyn College on Saturday, Match 14, at a time TBD at McDaniel College.