KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State women's basketball team returned home Saturday afternoon for their first home of 2024, as they hosted the University of Massachusetts Boston Beacons. The Owls would come away from the back-and-forth battle with a 59-52 win over UMB, led by 28 points from Brynn Rautiola and a double-double from Valerie Luizzi, with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Owls' second consecutive LEC win.

Records

• Keene State: 6-5 (2-1 LEC)
• UMass-Boston: 3-9 (1-4 LEC)

Postgame Interview (Coach Boucher)
Postgame Interview (Brynn Rautiola)

How It Happened

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter, as the first points were not scored until Keriann Farina snagged an offensive rebound and put it right back up and in, putting the Beacons on the board with 7:43 left in the first. The ensuing possession, Luizzi answered right back and drained a three-pointer, putting the Owls up one. After the teams traded a made free throw each, bringing the score to 4-3 for the Owls, UMB retook the lead with a three-pointer from Sibayla Jensen, with 2:56 left in the quarter. Rautiola, coming off a 30-point performance in the last contest in the Owls' 58-46 win over Castleton on Wednesday, tied the game back up at six, after going 2-2 from the free throw line on the ensuing Owls' possession. Rautiola added one more point with another free throw to close out the scoring in the first, with the owls up 7-6.
 
Both teams found their grooves in a close second quarter, that saw the score tied eight times, along with five lead changes. In the back-and-forth quarter, four different Owls scored throughout the 10 minutes of play, including seven points from Rautiola, off 4-4 on free throws, six points from Luizzi (3-4 from the field in the quarter), four points from Avery Stewart and a layup from Angel Pillsbury. Six different scorers logged points for the Beacons throughout the second, including a quarter high of eight by Alexah Potter and four from Sunny Green. As the Beacons looked to take their four-point lead into the half, following a layup from Samora Merchant, Rautiola heaved a shot from far beyond the three-point line, hitting nothing but net and cutting the Beacons' lead to one heading into the half.
 
Nearly three minutes passed until either team scored in the third, with Rautiola opening the scoring with back-to-back field goals, regaining the lead for the Owls early in the third. Paige Ollivierre responded with a three-pointer for the Beacons, tying the game up at 30, after UMB called a timeout to regroup. KSC retook the lead by another made free throw from Rautiola, followed by a made free throw and three pointer from Pillsbury shortly after, with 3:50 left in the third. Potter scored five more points for UMB in a row to tie the game back up, coming from a pair of field goals and a free throw. Through the final two minutes of the quarter, Rautiola made a layup and hit a pair of free throws, compared to Beeban Pearson's two points for UMB, to give the Owls a 41-39 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
On the opening possession in the fourth quarter, Rautiola made a layup, scoring her eighth straight point for the Owls, for the second time in the contest. After Farina made a layup to cut the lead back to two for the Owls, Luizzi went on an offensive tear over the next three possessions for KSC, hitting both of her free throw attempts after getting fouled when grabbing the offensive rebound, hitting a three pointer on the next possession, and then a midrange jumper on the following possession, totaling seven points in a row by Luizzi for the Owls and pushing their lead to nine with 6:46 left to play. Three different scorers would combine for seven points for UMB over the next three minutes to cut the score to 50-48, but that was the closest that the score would get during the rest of the game, as the Owls started to pull away. Down the stretch, the Owls outscored the Beacons' 9-4, with all their nine points coming from free throws, except for a layup from Rautiola. The Owls shot 7-10 from the line in the final three minutes, coming from Stewart, Rautiola, and Luizzi, to ice the game and give the Owls their second consecutive LEC win.
 
Inside the Paint

• Rautiola is shooting 39 percent from three-point range over her first 11 career games and is 47-for-56 (84 percent) at the foul line.  She is currently second in the conference in scoring (18.5 ppg), fourth in three-point percentage, and fourth in free throw percentage.
• KSC is 4-2 when Luizzi scores in double-figures.  Her 10 rebounds today were two more than her previous career-high set last season.
• The Owls are 39-16 against the Beacons overall and have won 22 of 28 all-time meetings at Spaulding Gymnasium including three of the last four.  Last year's 68-56 home win over UMB in the season finale clinched a playoff spot for KSC and eliminated UMB.
• Keene State has held their last two opponents to a 37-for-137 (27 percent) effort from the floor and 7-for-40 mark from three – both Owl victories. 

Up Next

Keene State plays next against Eastern Connecticut State at home, on Tuesday, January 9, at 4:00 PM, as the Owls will look to make it three consecutive LEC wins.
UMass-Boston will also play next Tuesday, January 9, but at 5:00 PM, as the Beacons will travel to take on UMass-Dartmouth.