NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Keene State women's basketball team traveled to take on UMass-Dartmouth, on Wednesday night, looking to upset the Corsairs. Valerie Luizzi recorded her second double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, with Brynn Rautiola closely behind scoring 18, but the Owls were unable to overcome the Corsairs fourth quarter surge, falling 78-63.

Records

• Keene State: 11-12 (7-8 LEC)
• UMass-Dartmouth: 21-3 (13-2 LEC)

How it Happened


Keene State opened the scoring in the contest on their first possession, with Avery Stewart hitting a layup. Both teams traded baskets throughout the opening of the first, as the score would be tied at two, and then seven apiece with 6:16 left in the quarter, following Rautiola hitting all three of her free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. UMD then went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes, until Luizzi hit her first shot of the day with just over a minute remaining in the first, bringing the score to 17-9 for UMD. Through the final minute of the quarter, UMD hit a pair of free throws to four points coming from Luizzi and Stewart, bringing the score to 19-13 at the end of 10 minutes played. Through the first quarter, Carly Whiteside led all scorers, as she had 11 of the 19 points for the Corsairs early on.
 
KSC opened the second quarter on an 8-2 scoring run, thanks to three-pointers from Luizzi and Rautiola, and a layup from Lily Krysinski, as the Owls were able to tie the game up at 21 apiece with 8:20 remaining in the quarter. The Corsairs responded with a 12-0 scoring run of their own over the next nearly six minutes, as the Owls did not score until Rautiola hit a pair of free throws with 2:27 left in the first half. After UMD answered right back on their next possession with another basket, Luizzi went a perfect 3-3 at the line, with 1:59 remaining in the half, after getting fouled on a three-point attempt. In the remainder of the half, the Corsairs outscored the Owls 7-2, with the Owls lone basket being a layup from Krysinski, as UMD took a 42-28 lead into halftime.
 
The third quarter ended up being one of the Owls' highest scoring quarters on the season, as they scored 23 points over the 10 minutes. UMD scored a pair of baskets to start the quarter, increasing their lead to 18, but Luizzi answered right back with a pair of baskets of her own right after. After another basket from UMD, coming from Teja Andrews, KSC went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes, with Luizzi hitting a free throw and Stewart hitting a pair, and Rautiola hitting a three, just before reaching the halfway mark in the quarter. UMD once again responded, this time with four points over the next few minutes, and KSC was unable to score until with 2:32 left in the quarter, Luizzi kicked off what would be a 13-5 run for KSC to end the quarter by hitting a pair of free throws. Luizzi also contributed three more free throws over the scoring run for the Owls, followed by five from Angel Pillsbury with a three-pointer and a layup, along with a three-pointer for Rautiola, which on total cut the Corsairs' lead to six heading into the final 10 minutes of play. 
 
UMass-Dartmouth opened the final quarter of play on fire, going on a 17-0 run to open the quarter. Keene State was held scoreless in the quarter until Luizzi hit a jump shot with 4:08 remaining in the contest to make the score 74-53 for UMD. On the ensuing possession for KSC, Pillsbury made a jump shot as the Owls tried to mount a comeback late in the fourth. It ended up being too little and too late for the Owls as they would go on to outscore the Corsairs 8-4 over the final 3:16, as UMD would hold on for the 78-63 win.
 
Inside the Paint

• Keene State still leads the all-time series against UMD, 36-22, although they have lost 13 of the last 16, including the last five in a row.
• Luizzi's 24 and Rautiola's 18 combined for 42 of KSC's 63 points, which is exactly two thirds (66.7%) of the Owls' points on the day.
• Luizzi tied Whiteside of UMD with the most points in the game, with 24, and most rebounds in the contest, with 10. Luizzi also logged six assists and four steals in her 36 minutes played.
• Rautiola once played 40 minutes, as her 18 points bring her season average in PPG technically down .1, as she is still averaging 20.2 PPG, and projected to still be in the top 25 of all Division III women's basketball PPG on the season. She is also second among freshman in scoring in all Division III women's basketball PPG this year.

 
Up Next


Keene State's next game will be the final regular season game of their 2023-2024 season, as the Owls will host No. 3 Rhode Island College at home for senior day on Saturday, February 17, at 1:00 PM.
The next game for the Corsairs will also be their regular season finale, against Western Connecticut State on Saturday, February 17, at 1:00 PM.