CASTLETON, VT. - The Keene State College women's basketball team saw four go into double-figures, including a team-high 13 points from sophomore Hailey Derosia, leading the Owls to their second Little East Conference win of the season against the Castleton University Spartans, 65-54 at Glenbrook Gymnasium Wednesday night. 

Records

• Keene State:  2-3, 2-3 LEC
• Castleton University:  1-5, 0-5 LEC

How It Happened
One week removed from defeating the Spartans in Keene, the Owls traveled to Vermont and picked up right where they left off following last week's comeback victory.  Derosia led the way for the Owls, shooting 4-5 from the field, including making her only try from behind the arc.  She also knocked down four free throws and grabbed eight rebounds in the Owls' victory.  Michelle LaBonte and Jackie Alibrandi cashed in for 11 points of their own, including knocking down three three-point shots each. Lilly Shlimon finished with ten points while adding five rebounds and three assists.  Castleton was led by Elise Magro, who finished with 17 points, 7-22 FG, four rebounds, one assist). Castleton forward Emilee Bose (3-7 FG, 8-8 FT, five rebounds) contributed 14 points. 
 
Derosia started the scoring for the Owls in the first quarter by knocking down a three pointer, sparking a 9-0 run for Keene State.  Two layups for junior Jenny Freedman, and an added bucket for sophomore Arianna Hebert gave the Owls a quick 9-5 lead in the first.  KSC grabbed 14 rebounds in the first quarter, compared to the Spartans collecting ten.  Scoring was staggered in the second quarter, as Alibrandi knocked down a three in the first minute of the quarter, followed by another Alibrandi three at the 6:25 mark, giving the Owls a 17-9 lead.  However, Castleton would go on a small run of their own, scoring the next five points of the game before Arianna Hebert knocked in two three throws. A Shlimon jumper to end the half would give the Owls a five-point lead heading into the break. 
 
The Spartans would get as close as two points from the lead in the third quarter, but a pair of three balls from both Alibrandi and LaBonte, and a layup to end the quarter by Alibrandi would give KSC a five-point lead heading into the deciding frame. The Owls shot 6-for-13 from the field in the third, including 4-of-9 from deep. 
 
A season-high 25 points in a quarter would put the game away for the Owls, as they shot 8-of-13 in the final ten minutes, including 2-of-4 from deep and 7-of-10 free throws to secure the victory. A layup by Hebert, and another three-point basket from LaBonte gave the Owls an eight-point lead (45-37) with 8:31 to go.  Keene State their first double-digit lead of the game on a made basket from Derosia with 6:28 left, but that lead did not last long as Castleton's Brooke Raiche knocked down a deep triple followed by a jumper from the Spartans' leading point scorer Magro, cutting what was a double-digit lead for Keene to a six. Castleton would cut their deficit to as low as four but a 10-0 KSC run late in the fourth quarter locked up the victory for the Owls. 
 
Inside the Paint

• Keene State knocked down a season-high nine three-point shots, including a 4-9 third quarter. Overall, the Owls shot nearly 40 percent from the field (22-56, 9-27 3PT). 
• The Owls bench outscored Castleton 23-8, including 11 points from Alibrandi, and nine points from Freedman.  
• KSC held the lead for the final 33:44 of the contest after quickly falling behind in the game 5-0. 
• KSC has now won the last two meetings between these teams after dropping the previous five. 
• After failing to put up 60 points in their first four games of the season, the Owls put up 65 points on Castleton this evening, the second highest total the Spartans have allowed this season.  This is the first time the have hit the 60+ point plateau since a 72-63 victory over Western Connecticut (1/22/2020) and reversed a trend of the past six head-to-head meetings with CU where KSC had scored an average of just 44.1 points per game.

 Up Next

• The Owl women will host Rhode Island College (8-0, 6-0 LEC) in their LEC regular season finale on Saturday, February 27 at 1:00 pm from Spaulding Gymnasium. 
• The Spartans will host the Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth (4-3, 4-2 LEC) from Glenbrook Gymnasium at 1:00 pm on the same date.