KSC Outshoots Spartans By Wide Margin, Posts Comeback Win on Road

CASTLETON, Vt. – Sophomore Aryanna Murray reversed course after driving to her right and beat Delaney Whitehead to the hoop with a left-handed finish with 10.4 seconds left to give the Keene State College women's basketball team a one-point lead, and the Owls then came up with two defensive stops from there to secure an important 55-54 Little East Conference victory over Castleton University on Wednesday night at Glenbrook Gymnasium.

Records

• Keene State:  6-15, 4-11 LEC
• Castleton:  16-8, 9-6 LEC

How It Happened
In need of a win (and help around the league) to keep their Little East Conference tournament hopes alive, KSC got all of the above, outshooting the Spartans by nearly 16 percentage points to reverse an earlier 14-point loss to the very same team at Spaulding Gymnasium when the Owls had just 25 points through three quarters.  Tonight, they had 27 by halftime and finished with 55, shooting 45 percent in the process including over 40 percent in every quarter.  The Owls also connected at a 37 percent (7-for-19) from long range, with emerging rookie Valerie Luizzi connecting on 3-of-5 treys and scoring a team-best 15 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists.  The Colchester, Conn. native is shooting 40 percent from deep over her last six games (since January 25).  She also has 11 assists in that span, nearly two per contest.  Defensively, Keene State stuffed the Spartans, holding the hosts to 29.4 percent shooting overall – their fifth lowest mark of the season – and 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) from three.  Castleton was also outrebounded 39-29, but was able to stay close and even lead by five with 1:08 left in the third quarter thanks to 18 Owl turnovers and a plus-12 margin at the foul line as CU was 16-for-22 and KSC 4-for-7.

Keene State erased a 32-27 halftime deficit very quickly, with Luizzi scoring five points in less than two minutes to start the second half.  Kelly Vuz connected from distance to answer and put Castleton back ahead by three, but Rylee Burgess and Kenzie Durnford scored inside for a 36-35 Owl lead at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.  The Spartans trailed 38-36 after Luizzi canned two free throws before then embarking on one of their few offensive bursts in the game, taking a 45-40 lead with a 9-2 run that took 2:51 mostly thanks to two threes from Maggie McKearin.  Durnford made it a three-point lead by finishing off a feed from Kate McAvoy with less than 20 ticks left in the quarter, and then McAvoy drained a triple on the Owls' opening possession of the fourth to tie the game at 45 with 9:20 left.  Despite perhaps not lighting up the scoreboard for a huge point total in the game overall or the second half, KSC's offense was in gear, shooting 46 percent (and one miss shy of 50 percent) in the final 20 minutes, and that proved to be the difference down the stretch as Castleton made just two field goals in the final 10 minutes and five total in the second half.  Elizabeth Gonyea gave the Owls a 47-45 edge by flashing under the basket and converting another nice pass from McAvoy with 8:45 remaining.  Neither team led by more than one possession after that.  In fact, after a Durnford layup a minute later made it 49-47, Keene State did miss their next three shots and turned the ball over to allow the Spartans to score five in a row and take a three-point advantage on a long ball from Gwyn Tatton with 5:06 left.

After an Owl timeout, they turned the ball over once more and then forced Castleton to cough it up as well to keep it a three-point game.  Burgess, who became huge down the stretch and grabbed 12 rebounds overall on the night, grabbed an offensive board of a Murray three which eventually helped her get two at the line, which she made to make it 52-51 with 3:54 left.  Elise Magro then misfired on Castleton's trip and the Owls retook the lead by going inside to Burgess on their ensuing possession.  Down one with about two minutes left, the Spartans got their own second chance after Vuz rebounded Whitehead's miss and that eventually led to two Magro free throws for a 54-53 Castleton lead at the 2:04 mark.  KSC had missed their next three shots and found themselves down a point without the ball and less than a minute left, but made the plays in the final minute to emerge with an important win.  First, Burgess and Grace Furze converged on Magro who came up well short on a jumper to set the Owls up with a chance to take the lead and the shot clock off with less than 30 seconds left.  Then, after KSC called a timeout and inbounded from the sideline with 19.9 on the clock, Murray passed to Burgess, who eventually got the ball back to Murray.  She began to take her defender to the right, but then avoided slipping and reversed course, converting a nice left-handed finish for a 55-54 Owl lead with 10.4 on the clock.  Castleton then had their own chance at a win after calling a timeout and advancing, but Magro lost the ball out of bounds while driving to her left with Furze guarding her.  It was a nightmare game for the Spartans' leading scorer, who was held to 4-of-21 shooting from the floor and 2-of-11 from three-point range.
The turnover seemed to set Keene State up well to close it out, but they misfired on two free throws and gave CU one more chance in the same scenario.  They again called timeout and advanced the ball to the forecourt on their bench side, but the Owl defense once more came up with a needed stop, as Magro received the inbound pass and dribbled to her right before heaving up an off-balance three that was well-contested by Luizzi and well off the mark.

In addition to Luizzi, Durnford finished in double-figures with 11 points (5-10 FG), eight rebounds, and two assists.  Samantha Lee (3-5 FG) and Jackie Alibrandi (2-4 3-PT) each chipped in six points off the bench, while Murray also finished with six including the two most important points of the night.  Burgess' 12 boards give her three straight double-digit rebounding performances and five in the past seven games.

Magro finished with 17 points, mostly thanks to going 7-for-10 at the foul line, eight rebounds, two assists, and four steals.  Tatton (3-5 FG, 1-1 3-PT, 6-6 FT) added 13 points and seven boards, while Vuz (3-10 FG, 3-8 3-PT, 2-2 FT) had 11 points for the Spartans, who will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Little East tournament and host a quarterfinal against the No. 5 seed.

The final two spots – No. 5 and No. 6 – are very much up for grabs heading into the final day of the regular season, and that mix continues to include the Owls, who had to win tonight to remain in contention.  Two teams of a group that includes four (KSC, Western Connecticut State University, the University of Southern Maine, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston) will qualify Saturday – and, ironically, they all play each other.

Inside the Paint

• The Owls are 6-1 when shooting 37 percent or better overall.  They are 6-5 when making six or more threes.
• KSC split the season series for the second year in a row and is now 4-2 in their last six games against the Spartans after losing the previous five meetings.
• Luizzi scored 27 points and was 7-for-12 from three against Castleton in the season series.  She has made 40 threes in 20 games overall this season.

Up Next

• Keene State will honor their lone senior Michelle LaBonte with a Senior Day ceremony on Saturday (February 18) before they take on UMass-Boston (12-13, 5-10 LEC) at 1:00 p.m.  The Owls will need a win and a Southern Maine victory over WestConn to clinch the No. 6 seed and a conference postseason spot.  Whoever does finish sixth will travel to No. 3 seed University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Tuesday, February 21.  KSC erased a 23-point first half deficit to take a three-point lead in the first matchup against the Beacons in Boston, but wound up falling 66-61.  Meanwhile, Southern Maine on Saturday will be aiming to stop a seven-game home losing streak.  Their opponent, Western Connecticut, has lost seven straight overall including a 72-51 final to KSC on February 4.  WCSU beat USM 48-39 in Danbury on January 14.
• Castleton visits UMass-Dartmouth on the same day, also at 1:00 p.m., in a matchup of the only two teams who know their LEC seed entering the final day.  The conference's top two seeds may be heading for a coin flip unless last place Plymouth State University pulls off a shocking upset against Rhode Island College.