KEENE, N.H. - Katie Martineau made 5-of-6 from long-range in the opening half as the Keene State College women's basketball team built a 33-point lead while sprinting to a 56-31 win over Plymouth State University in Wednesday night Little East Conference action at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  7-14, 6-6 LEC
• Plymouth State:  4-16, 0-11 LEC

How It Happened

The Owls quickly assumed control and never looked back, as they scored the first 16 points of the game before piling on with a 54 percent shooting effort in the second quarter where the advantage grew to as large as 39-6.  Katie Martineau's scoring binge helped her finish with a game-high 15 points (5-8 3-PT) on the evening.  KSC also got nine points (3-6 FG) and two rebounds from Abby Grandmaison and eight points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block from Lilly Shlimon.  All 15 available Owls saw action in the game.  Plymouth State was paced by Isabella Earle's 12 points.

Only one point was scored in the game's opening four minutes (a free throw by Jordyn Burke), but Keene State quickly changed that, as consecutive layups by Tamra Gonyea and Hailey Derosia extended the Owl lead to 6-0.  The edge only grew from there, as the first of Martineau's triples made it 11-0 at the 1:52 mark of the first quarter, and another from her a little over a minute later made it 16-0.  Earle scored with 30 seconds to go to get Plymouth on the board, but the Panthers were still down 14 and eventually trailed 23-3 after four straight points by Burke early in the second quarter.  Shlimon and Leah Pelkey fed the hot hand on consecutive trips with about five minutes to go in the half, as Martineau connected twice more from deep as KSC held a wide 29-3 lead.  The fifth of her triples came at the 3:48 mark, putting the Owls up over 30 points.  Shlimon buried her own trey with just a tick below two minutes to go to make it a game-high 33 point cushion (39-6), and her pair of free throws in the final minute helped Keene State carry a 41-10 lead into halftime.

The Owl scoring slowed down considerably in the final 20 minutes, but their defense did not, and Plymouth never got the deficit any lower than 24.  Keene State was up 45-14 a little over two minutes into the third after Derosia's layup and 48-18 at the 2:05 mark after Shlimon made another three.  PSU made five of their 10 shots from the floor in the third and KSC just 2-of-14, but it was still a 48-21 game heading to the fourth.  In the final 10 minutes, Grandmaison tallied five points and Michelle LaBonte recorded her first career three, which made it 56-28 with 4:04 to go.

Keene State shot 44 percent in the first half, including 7-of-13 (4-of-10 from three) in the second quarter, before finishing at 30 percent (17-of-57) for the game.  Plymouth State was limited to a 20 percent (10-of-51) showing from the floor.

Inside the Paint

• The 20 percent opponent field goal percentage and 31 points allowed were easily season-bests for the Owls, who held a team under 40 points for the sixth time this season (5-1).
• Keene State is now fourth in the Little East overall in both points allowed per game (57.2) and field goal percentage defense (35.9 percent).
• Martineau is leading the league in three-point percentage among qualified players by a wide margin.  She has made 48 percent of her long-range attempts this season (30-of-63) and multiple threes in a game 10 times.  UMass-Boston's Joie Grassi is in second at 39 percent.  Martineau's five threes are the most by an Owl in a single game since Emily McPadden made the same number last February 11 at Fitchburg State.
• KSC is 39-9 all-time against Plymouth.

Up Next

• Now leading by two games for the sixth and final playoff spot in the LEC, Keene State will travel to UMass-Dartmouth (11-9, 6-5 LEC) to complete the season series with the Corsairs next Wednesday (February 12) at 5:00 pm.  KSC needs any combination of three wins themselves or three losses by the University of Southern Maine to clinch a playoff spot.
• Plymouth also takes on UMD next, as they return home to welcome the Corsairs on Saturday, February 8 (1:00 pm).