Owls Dominate Final Three Quarters, Turn Tables on Beacons to Clinch No. 5 Seed While Denying UMB Home Playoff Game

BOSTON, Mass. – Aryanna Murray buried 5-of-7 from three-point range while scoring a game-high 17 points and Brianna Metellus came off the bench to score 11, making three of her seven tries from deep, as the Keene State College women's basketball team bounced back with a 52-41 LEC victory over the University of Massachusetts-Boston Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.

Records

• Keene State:  10-13, 7-9 LEC
• UMass-Boston:  8-14, 7-9 LEC

Final LEC Regular Season Standings (click here)
Final LEC Team vs. Team Results (click here)

How It Happened
Entering the day, the Owls and Beacons were both locked into a tight seeding battle where a win by UMass-Boston would guarantee a home playoff game and a victory by Keene State would give them a chance of having a home playoff game.  The Owls also could have finished as low as seventh with a loss, but did not have to worry about that, as after a slow start where they trailed 6-0 while never leading in the opening quarter, pushed around the Beacons for much of the game's final 26 minutes to turn a seven-point deficit into an 11-point win.  One day after scoring 41 points in the first half at Spaulding Gymnasium, where they shot 14-for-25 overall and made 7-of-13 from three-point land in an eventual 12-point win, the Beacons were limited to just 41 points and 14 field goals in the entire game this time around as Keene State snapped a three-game losing streak at the Clark Athletic Center.  UMass-Boston made 9-of-20 from three yesterday, outscoring KSC 27-9 from beyond the arc, but today was just 3-of-20 (15 percent) while the Owls improved from 3-for-28 from deep to 8-for-22 (36 percent).  A series the Owls have historically dominated recently turned heavily in favor of the Beacons (8-2 in last 10 entering today), but the teams have now split the last four meetings.  Keene State's last six wins over UMass-Boston are all by double-figures, and they ensured that would happen this afternoon with two sizzling quarters.  In the second, mostly thanks to Metellus, who scored eight points in 54 seconds, the Owls made 6-of-9 shots from the floor, 3-of-5 from distance, and all three free throws to turn a 20-13 deficit into a five-point halftime lead with a 12-0 closing burst.

After turning to a defense that limited the Beacons to two points over the opening 8:26 of the third quarter to build a double-digit lead, Keene State used Murray's onslaught to put the game away in the final 10 minutes.  She kicked off the fourth with a trey on the Owls' first trip down the floor to push the lead to nine after the Beacons had briefly gotten within six at the end of the third, and then made it 38-28 with another trey at the 7:51 mark.  Rylee Burgess scored inside twice in the ensuing minutes to push the Owls in front by a game-high 13 points, and despite a small Beacons push that made it 43-36 with 4:54 remaining, Murray made a back-breaking triple to restore the lead to double-figures.  She added another for good measure, making it 50-39 with 3:04 left as the Owls were well on their way to their sixth victory in their last nine games to close the regular season.  KSC had a strong finishing push, shooting 47 percent (7-of-15) overall and 4-for-6 from three in the final 10 minutes. Their defense held UMass-Boston to a 31 percent effort from the floor in the contest and forced 26 turnovers.  One day after having 17 points (3-7 FG, 6-6 FT) and 14 rebounds in a win over KSC, Beacons and LEC-leading scorer Meg Dixon was limited to eight points on 2-of-11 shooting, 0-of-6 from three-point range.  Sunny Green scored 14 yesterday but was held to two today.

Murray's five triples (on seven attempts) match a single-game high that she also accomplished in November against Worcester State University.  The Owls are 4-2 as a team this season when she makes two or more triples.  Burgess finished with eight points and eight rebounds as KSC won their third straight road game.

Vienna Monestime was the lone Beacon in double-figures, scoring 12 points (4-8 FG, 1-2 3-PT, 3-4 FT), but her team lost for the sixth time in their last nine games and tumbled two spots lower in the standings.

Inside the Paint

• After seeing their string of holding seven consecutive opponents under 40 percent shooting from the field snapped yesterday, KSC held the Beacons to a 31 percent showing today and are now limiting their opposition to 34.9 shooting overall this season.
• Metellus is seven for her last 18 from three-point range overall, while Murray is 9-for-16 from deep in the Owls' last two games away from home.
• KSC leads the all-time series 37-15, 17-8 in Boston.

Up Next

• Keene State, the No. 5 seed, will travel to face fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine (8-15, 7-7 LEC) for a third matchup this season on Tuesday, February 22 at 6;00 p.m.  The Huskies clinched fourth today with a 60-51 win at eighth-place Western Connecticut State University, which wound up becoming the only thing that prevented KSC from having a home playoff game.  USM won both regular season meetings with KSC, 59-43 in Keene in December and 63-57 in Gorham in January.
• UMass-Boston heads to No. 3 seed University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (18-7, 12-4 LEC) on the same night for a 5:00 p.m. quarterfinal.  The Beacons were trounced by the Corsairs in what turned into a home-and-home over three days three weeks ago, 87-51 on the road and 62-49 at home.