FITCHBURG, Mass. - Emily McPadden scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting as the Keene State College women's basketball team handily defeated Fitchburg State University 66-39 in their final road game of the season Monday night at Parkinson Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  4-20
• Fitchburg State:  9-14

How It Happened

McPadden also made 5-of-14 from long range while pulling down nine more boards and adding four steals and an assist.  Tamra Gonyea finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while Lilly Shlimon had 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.  Hien Thach had a career-high eight assists, seven points, and two rebounds as KSC had a helper on 17 of their 24 made field goals.  Angelina Marazzi had 10 points for Fitchburg State on 4-of-17 shooting from the floor.

The game was close in the very early going, as Thach scored five early points before the host Falcons tied the game at nine a little less than five minutes in.  However, Keene State pulled away rapidly after that, as consecutive McPadden buckets fueled a 12-0 burst in just over three minutes gave the Owls a 21-9 lead with 47 seconds left in the opening quarter.  A McPadden three capped the uprising before Peyton Holmes snapped the home team's drought with a three that made it 21-12 after one.  It was all KSC in the second quarter, as the visitors scored the first 15 points and held FSU without a point in the quarter for the first 7:46.  Gonyea's three at the 7:09 mark restored a double-digit Owl lead and, a few minutes later, two threes from McPadden sandwiching a jumper from Abby Thut made it 34-12.  A pair from the line for Gonyea with 2:34 remaining in the half ballooned the KSC lead to 24 before Fitchburg's Mishelle Logie made a three to snap the scoring drought.  Shlimon's jumper in the final 40 seconds had the Owls up 38-15 at halftime.  Keene State outscored the Falcons 17-3 in the second quarter.

The second half was no different, as it remained all Keene State during an opening 11-5 run that provided a game-high 29 point lead (49-20).  Another McPadden triple opened the scoring before Jordyn Burke and Gonyea connected on consecutive trips a few minutes later.  The Owls, leading 51-22 after a McPadden basket at the 5:33 mark, did see Fitchburg run off six consecutive points late in the third quarter, but still led 53-31 entering the fourth.  The Falcons never got closer than 19 in the final quarter, and when they did, Gonyea immediately answered with a bucket before a long range make from McPadden a few minutes later made it 59-35 with 4:33 to go.  Gonyea scored the Owls' final five points, finishing a 7-for-13 evening from the floor, as KSC held Fitchburg to their lowest point total of the season.

Inside the Paint

• McPadden's point total marked a season-high, surpassing her 22-point effort at Plymouth State on January 8, and fell just one shy of matching a personal career best of 24 points set November 15, 2016 against Westfield State University.  She also now has 210 career threes, tying Hayley Alaimo '03 for fifth on the all-time KSC women's basketball list, and needs just two more to pass Christan Wojtas '15 for fourth.
• It was the Owls' largest margin of victory since an 82-60 win over Rhode Island College on February 18, 2017.
• KSC started fast, as they shot 9-of-20 and had six assists in the opening quarter while outrebounding the Falcons 12-7.  In the game, KSC shot 41% (24-of-59) while limiting the hosts to 29% (16-of-55).

Up Next

• Keene State will honor McPadden on Senior Day before hosting Eastern Connecticut State University for their season finale at 1:00 pm on Saturday, February 16.
• Fitchburg State hosts Westfield State on Wednesday, February 13 at 7:30 pm.