PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Keene State women's basketball team traveled to take on the No. 3 team in the country, Rhode Island College, Saturday afternoon at The Murray Center. After a close opening 20 minutes of play, seeing the Owls only down six at the halftime, RIC came out of the break and outscored the Owls 27-8 in the third quarter, en route to their 75-46 win over KSC, improving to 15-0.

Records

• Keene State: 6-8 (2-4 LEC)
• Rhode Island College: 15-0 (6-0 LEC)

How it Happened
 

RIC opened the scoring one minute into the contest, with Madison Medbury making a layup for the Anchorwomen. Jackie Alibrandi responded for the Owls on their next possession, draining a three-pointer, giving the Owls the lead, for what would be the only time in the contest. RIC scored on their next three possessions, with Jeniyah Jones grabbing the offensive board and putting it back up and in, to give RIC the lead back, then Izabelle Booth hit a three-pointer from another offensive board from Jones, followed by a jumper from Sophia Guerrier with 7:06 left in the first. Two minutes later, Brynn Rautiola hit her first of four three-pointers on the day, bringing the Owls to within three, halfway through the first quarter. RIC answered right back with scoring on their next three possessions again with three field goals, bringing their lead back up to nine. Valerie Luizzi ended the Anchorwomen's scoring run with a jumper of her own on KSC's next possession, but once again, RIC answered right back with a three-pointer from Medbury with two minutes remaining in the first. KSC scored the final points of the quarter with a pair of baskets, as Samantha Lee hit a jump shot and Luizzi hit a three-pointer to cut the Anchorwomen's lead to five heading into the second quarter.

Rautiola opened the scoring in the second quarter, hitting her second three of the contest, making it seven consecutive points for KSC. On the following possession for the Anchorwomen, Jones grabbed another offensive rebound and found Angelina Nardolillo for a layup. With 8:25 left in the first half, Booth hit another three-pointer for RIC, followed by another jumper for Luizzi and then another jumper for Nardolillo for RIC, making the score 25-18 for the Anchorwomen. Keene State scored on their next two possessions, as Lily Krysinski hit a pair of free throws after she got fouled when going up for a shot after grabbing an offensive rebound, followed by Rautiola's third three-pointer of the game on the next possession for KSC. Both teams made a layup over the next could of minutes, coming from Jones for RIC and Luizzi for KSC, cutting the lead to two for RIC with 4:28 left in the first half. RIC scored five consecutive points on back-to-back possessions with Guerrier making a pair of free throws and Olivia Middleton grabbing another offensive rebound for RIC and putting it back up and in with 3:15 to go in the second quarter. Both teams only hit one shot the rest of the way in the first half, with Alibrandi answering Middleton's basket with her own, cutting the lead to three, but RIC went into the half with a six-point lead after Jayda Bing hit her own three, giving RIC the 34-28 lead at the half. 

Rhode Island opened the second half in similar fashion to Western Connecticut in the Owls previous game, as RIC opened the second half on a 12-0 run. Luizzi ended the Anchorwomen's scoring run with a layup at the 6:02 mark in the third, bringing the lead to 46-30 for RIC. Krysinski added three more points for KSC, making a jumper while getting fouled, and knocking down the added free throw, cutting Ric's lead to 13. Through the rest of the 4:45 of the third quarter, RIC outscored KSC 15-3, including an 11-0 run to end the quarter, with the Owls' only three points coming from what was Rautiola's final three-pointer of the contest. 

The Anchorwomen built upon their 11-0 run at the end of the third by scoring eight more consecutive points in the first 3:51 of the final quarter, bringing their total to 19 consecutive points. Lee ended RIC's scoring run with a layup with 5:49 left in the game. A minute later, Maggie Schwab made a layup for RIC, followed by a jumper from Luizzi for the Owls. The teams traded baskets again shortly after, with Claire Greene scoring for RIC and Alibrandi netting a jumper with 2:50 left to play. RIC's final basket came with 1:45 left from a layup from Bailey Burke, while KSC scored the last four points, with Krysinski and Angel Pillsbury each hitting a free throw and Pillsbury making a jumper at the final buzzer.

Inside the Paint

·       With the loss, KSC has now dropped 12 consecutive games to the Anchorwomen and falls behind to RIC in the all-time head-to-head matchup, 29-28, for the first time since KSC lost the first four matchups between the two programs.

·       Over the past two games, KSC's third quarter woes have continued, being outscored by a combined 47-13 margin.

·       Luizzi logged double-digits for the seventh time this season, shooting 10-23 over the past two games.

·       RIC outrebounded KSC 54-29, with RIC grabbing 28 offensive rebounds and scoring 25 second chance points, to the Owls two. In the previous four games, KSC has been outrebounded by a total of 73 boards. 

Up Next
 

Keene State will return home for their next contest, as they will host UMass-Dartmouth on Wednesday, January 17 at 5:30 PM.

Rhode Island College will also play on Wednesday, January 15, but at 5:00 PM, as they will travel to take on Eastern Connecticut State.