KEENE, N.H. – Forced to miss the entire season with an injury, Michelle LaBonte began the day with a touching moment when she had a chance to score a layup on the opening possession of her final game at Spaulding Gymnasium.  By the end of the day, Kenzie Durnford had recorded a new career-high while Aryanna Murray and Elizabeth Gonyea each scored in double-figures – all sophomores – as the Keene State College women's basketball team put away the University of Massachusetts-Boston 68-56 Saturday in a Little East Conference contest, winning for the third time in the past four games.

Records

• Keene State:  7-15, 5-11 LEC
• UMass-Boston:  12-14, 5-11 LEC

Postgame Interview (Coach Boucher)
Postgame Interview (Kenzie Durnford)

Little East 2022-2023 Team vs. Team Results
2023 Little East Tournament Bracket

How It Happened
In a game where both teams were eliminated with a loss, it was the Owls who set the tone with an early 8-0 burst and controlled the pace from there, shooting 45 percent overall including a 52 percent mark in the second half.  KSC led 35-27 at the break and then scored the opening five points of the third quarter to take a 13-point lead, after which the Beacons only got the lead below double-figures one time – 61-52 with just 2:13 to go.  Durnford answered with two free throws on KSC's possession, and then ultimately provided the exclamation point of the afternoon with a layup off a baseball pass over UMass-Boston's pressure in the final 24 seconds for a 14-point lead.  By that point, the Owls (may) have already known that not only had they closed the regular season by winning for the third time in four games and snapped a six-game home losing streak, but also that they had gotten the help needed from the University of Southern Maine, who defeated Western Connecticut State University 71-54 at home, helping allow KSC to clinch the No. 6 seed.  Entering the day, the Owls needed a win and a USM win to help create a three-way tie between Keene State, UMB, and WestConn, one in which KSC would emerge to despite all those teams splitting the season series' with each other thanks to a better record (1-1) against Castleton University than the other two (0-2).

The Owls shot 45 percent from the floor overall, their second consecutive game at that mark and third in the past four (all wins), including an important 7-for-12 (58 percent) in a third quarter that helped them expand the halftime lead from eight to 13.  Murray's layup less than two minutes out of the locker room put KSC up 38-27, and Valerie Luizzi's jumper on the next possession gave them a 13-point cushion.  UMass-Boston made a few small runs the rest of the way, but never contained the Owl offense to make much of a dent.  After a Durnford jumper and two free throws from Murray made it 44-29 nearly halfway through the quarter, the Beacons put up five in a row to hang around down 10, but Murray and Durnford answered with buckets on the next two trips for a 48-34 edge with 2:39 left.  Gonyea hit a big triple less than a minute later for a game-high 16 point (51-35) lead, and Samantha Lee corralled an offense board and scored in the final 13 seconds of the third to stop another 5-0 UMB stretch to give the Owls a 53-40 advantage entering the final 10 minutes. 

After Keriann Farina made two free throws to bring the Beacons within 11 on the first possession of the fourth quarter, a key sequence came next as UMB forced a turnover and had two different looks at a three on the next trip but misfired on both.  Then, on the other end, Gonyea drained another key triple to make it 56-42 with 9:07 to go.  She followed up a Durnford layup a few minutes later by driving to the hoop for a 60-44 Owl edge with 6:05 on the clock.  The visitors made one final push – playing for their playoff life – as three baskets from Farina helped the Beacons score eight of the next nine points to draw within 61-52 with 2:13 left, but Alexah Potter fouled Durnford 12 seconds later and the Owl sophomore and Katy, Texas native sank both free throws to put the lead right back into double-figures.  She fittingly salted away the game with a breakaway layup as Murray passed over UMass-Boston's press and Durnford dribbled in and easily finished over Beeban Jikiemi Pearson.

Durnford made nine of 16 shots from the floor (56 percent), 3-of-4 at the foul line, and added in eight rebounds, three assists (to no turnovers), and two steals for KSC.  Murray connected on 50 percent (6-12) overall and had three assists to go along with her 15 points, while Gonyea (3-5 FG, 2-3 FG, 5-8 FT) matched a season-high 13 points.

Farina (3-8 FG, 6-6 FT) paced UMB with 12 points and two rebounds.  Sunny Green (3-11 FG, 1-7 3-PT) added 10 points, two rebounds, and an assist.  Leading scorer Meg Dixon was held to half of her average, finishing with eight points while being limited to 3-of-10 shooting as the Beacons tumbled out of the playoffs with their fourth consecutive loss.  KSC's defense contributed to the all-around performance as they held UMass-Boston to 37.5 percent shooting overall, one three, and forced 19 turnovers.  Nineteen of UMB's 56 points came at the charity stripe, where they shot 83 percent.  The visitors' last lead came at 12-10, after which KSC scored eight straight and never trailed again.  A Murray triple with 1:06 left in the first helped the Owls carry a 21-14 edge into the second, which widened slightly to 35-27 at the break as Jackie Alibrandi and Luizzi each scored in the final 1:37 sandwiching a jumper from Paige Ollivierre.

The start of the game was unlike any other this season and an emotional one, as LaBonte, a South Windsor, Conn. native who came into the program as a first-year player in 2019-2020 and then played through two of the more unprecedented seasons ever, hit a layup after Rylee Burgess passed it off to her under the basket in the game's opening seconds.  LaBonte scored a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 three-point shooting against Norwich University on March 13, 2021 and is one of the captains of this year's team along with Alibrandi and Burgess.

Inside the Paint

• Keene State is 5-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better.
• Durnford had 33 points on 14-for-26 shooting in the Owls' last two games as they rallied for an LEC tournament berth and has scored in double-figures in five of eight games since January 21 including three of the past four.
• KSC split the season series with UMB for the third consecutive season.  Earlier this year, the Owls erased a 23-point first half deficit to take a lead with less than four minutes to go but could not hold on in a 66-61 loss.  Today, no such comeback was needed as they led for 36:04 of the 40 minutes.

Up Next

• The Owls will enter the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and travel to the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth for a quarterfinal on Tuesday, February 21.  Tip-off is at 6:30.  The Corsairs won both regular season meetings this year, but KSC won 62-54 at the Tripp Athletic Center last year and upset UMD 63-60 in the semifinals there on March 3, 2021.
• UMass-Boston was eliminated with the loss and their season is over.  They would have clinched a playoff berth with a win.  WestConn was also knocked out following the day's results, with Southern Maine clinching the No. 5 seed.