Box Score

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Senior Lilly Shlimon scored 21 points and sophomore Hailey Derosia finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds as the Keene State College women's basketball team avenged a pair of losses a week and a half ago in a big way, beating the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 63-60 in the Little East Conference tournament semifinals Wednesday night at the Tripp Athletic Center.
 
Records

• Keene State:  3-4
• UMass-Dartmouth:  5-4

How It Happened
Keene State fell victim to a UMD three-point shooting barrage on February 20 in Massachusetts and then a hot-shooting second half the following day in Keene as the Corsairs turned a 13-point deficit into a 15-point win, but ensured that would not happen again, this time holding UMass-Dartmouth to 32 percent shooting and 7-of-28 (25 percent) from behind the three-point line to advance to the Little East championship game for the fourth time in program history.  The Owls reached the league title game in 2005 and 2007 but fell to two University of Southern Maine teams ranked in the top eight nationally before breaking through in 2017 when they sprinted past Eastern Connecticut State University 71-58 on the road for their first Little East championship in program history.  Keene State will look for a second on Saturday (March 6) when they travel to top-seeded Rhode Island College (10-0), who dismantled Plymouth State University (1-4) – playing for the first time in 18 days – 72-20 in the other semifinal.  UMass-Dartmouth was aiming to atone for a pair of disappointing title game losses at home in 2018 and 2019 and make it to the final for the third time in four years, but that will have to wait, as KSC had other ideas.  The Corsairs, despite going 128-47 (71-24 LEC) and reaching the Elite Eight in head coach Matt Ducharme's seven seasons, are still searching for an LEC championship.  Their loss tonight snapped a four-game winning streak in which they averaged 73.8 points per game.
 
The Owls trailed 14-7 after one quarter, but behind strong efforts from Derosia and Shlimon, won the next three quarters.  KSC was still behind 30-26 at the break as UMD shot 6-for-13 (46 percent) from three overall in the opening 20 minutes, but the visitors found themselves ahead by four just 4:26 into the third quarter following a 12-4 burst that was capped by jumpers from Arianna Hebert, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Shlimon.  UMass-Dartmouth put up five quick points to retake the lead and it was close from there, with neither team leading by more than four the rest of the way.  A pair of free throws by Derosia in the final seconds of the third helped Keene State carry a 48-46 lead to the fourth.  Meagan Donovan's layup 30 seconds into the quarter tied the game at 48, but the Corsairs never did lead again, tying the game only once (at 56) after that.  A free throw by Jackie Alibrandi and a big triple by Derosia put Keene State up 52-48 with 8:17 to go, and freshman Rylee Burgess' layup off a feed from Derosia still had the Owls up by four about two minutes later.  Derosia tallied a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double in the second half alone and had four of KSC's whopping 10 blocks in the game.  Tied at 56, Shlimon had a big response, connecting on a big three of her own to put the Owls up 59-56 with 3:19 left.  A putback by UMD's Haley Reinold on the next possession made it a one-point game again, but KSC held on, as Hebert's runner in the lane ended a string of empty possessions and put the Owls back up three again (61-58) with just over a minute remaining.  The Corsairs went 2-for-4 at the free throw line on the next two trips sandwiched around Keene State's missed three to get within one once more with 11 seconds left.  Derosia was quickly fouled after the Owls advanced the ball and inbounded, making both for a 63-60 edge.  Donovan could not connect from three on UMD's next trip, but two KSC misses from the free throw line kept the Corsairs with hope and two seconds left.  However, Shaelyn Carreiro's desperation three as time expired was well-defended and came up well short, sending the Owls to the final.  The Owls held the Corsairs to a 9-for-35 showing from the floor in the second half.

Inside the Paint

• Derosia has had a strong second season with the Owls, averaging 11.4 points per game on 46 percent shooting.  She has made seven of her 13 tries from deep, 21-of-30 from the foul line, and is also grabbing seven rebounds per contest.
• Since a disappointing second half against UMass-Dartmouth on February 21, KSC has outscored opponents 115-89 in the final 20 minutes of the last three games and is shooting 46 percent overall in those halves (compared to 28 percent in the opening 20 minutes of those same contests).
• KSC dominated the glass 52-35 after being minus-21 in that category in the same building on February 20.

Up Next

• The Little East tournament championship game will be Saturday (March 6) at 7:30 p.m. at The Murray Center.  Rhode Island College has won two league titles (2012, 2014) but fell short last year, losing 49-44 at Eastern Connecticut.  Keene State opened the shortened 2021 season in Providence, falling 51-47.