KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State women's basketball team hosted Vermont State Castleton on Wednesday night, for their first of four games over the next eight days. Led on the attack with Brynn Rautiola scoring 29 points and Valerie Luizzi's 17 points, combined with Lilly Krysinski's 14 rebounds, the Owls held off the Spartan's comeback, defeating them for the second time this season, 55-46.

Records

• Keene State: 9-9 (5-5 LEC)
• Vermont State Castleton: 9-11 (3-8 LEC)

Postgame Interview (Brynn Rautiola)

How it Happened

Both teams got off to a slow start, as only 14 points were scored in the first quarter, and the first basket did not come until there was 6:45 left in the opening quarter, as Elise Margo found Liz Bailey for a jumper to give Castleton the lead. Luizzi answered with a three-pointer with 4:05 left in the quarter and followed it up with a layup a minute later, for a three-point lead for the Owls. Schuylar Nolan and Kathryn Moore each made a field goal on Castleton's final two possessions of the quarter to give the Panthers the lead, but Rautiola answered right back with her first basket of the game, a buzzer beater three-pointer from behind the arc to give KSC the 8-6 lead heading into the second.
 
The scoring picked up for both teams in the second quarter, as Samantha Lee hit a spin move to go around the Spartan defender and lay the ball up and in to beat the shot clock on the Owls' opening possession of the quarter. KSC increased their lead to seven following a three-pointer from Avery Stewart, but Castleton answered right back with a pair of layups shortly after, cutting the lead back to three with 6:34 left in the quarter. Over the next three minutes, both teams traded a pair of baskets, with Rautiola hitting a three-pointer and a layup, following a Luizzi steal, and Bailey sinking a pair of field goals for VTSU. On the ensuing possession after Bailey's second field goal, Rautiola drilled a jumper, to increase the lead back to six for KSC. Through the final 2:25 of the first half, KSC outscored VTSU 3-2, with Rautiola hitting a pair of free throws and Luizzi making one, compared to Stasia Epler making a jump shot for the Spartans, as KSC took their 23-16 lead heading into halftime.
 
Keene State opened the scoring in the third quarter, just as they did in the second, with a field goal, this time from Rautiola, and a three-pointer from Stewart to increase their lead to 12, 2:12 into the half. Each team would only score a pair of points over the next three minutes, with Bailey going 2-4 at the free throw line and Rautiola hitting another jump shot bringing her total to 15 points with 15 minutes still to play in the contest. Just over halfway through the quarter, Krysinski added her first basket of the contest, hitting a free throw to go with her nine rebounds so far in the contest. Over the next two minutes, Castleton scored six points to the Owls' three; Bailey scored the first two with a layup for Castleton, but Luizzi answered right back with a three-pointer to give the Owls a 14-point lead, which would end up being their largest of the day. The other four points for VTSU were scored from another from Bailey and a pair of free throws from Epler. After Rautiola increased the lead back to 12 for the Owls, Castleton tried to build momentum heading into the fourth, scoring six more points, before Luizzi hoped to shut it down scoring with 22 seconds left in the quarter, giving the Owls a 38-30 lead heading into the fourth.
 
The fourth quarter looked just like the end of the third, as Castleton had scored six points in a row, cutting the Owls lead down to two this time. The Owls did not score a basket in the fourth quarter until with 5:01 left, Rautiola stole the ball from the Spartans and went down the court for a layup, to increase the lead back to four. Following a pair of free throws hit by Luizzi a minute later, Castleton was one possession away from taking the lead again, as Emily Adams hit a jumper and Bailey hit a pair of free throws to cut KSC's lead to again, with 2:33 left to play. Luckily for the Owls, they have Luizzi and Rautiola, as the duo was able to shut down the Spartans' run, with Luizzi drilling a three-pointer on the next possession, followed by Rautiola hitting a layup, after grabbing the defensive rebound on the other end of the court. Castleton once again tried to make a comeback in the final 1:34 of play, with Bailey scoring her 20th point of the game, followed by a free throw from Adams on the next possession, cutting the lead to four again, with 54 seconds left. Thankfully for the Owls, they shot 8-10 through the rest of the game at the free throw line, with Luizzi going 1-2 and Rautiola going 7-8, while VTSU only made one shot, a three-pointer from Moore, as KSC held the Spartans to 46 points for the second time this season in the win.
 
Inside the Paint

• Keene State improves to 7-7 all-time against Vermont State Castleton with the win, winning for the third time in a row.
• Luizzi and Rautiola combined for 46 points, nearly outscoring the Spartans themselves. With each of them recording an assist, it results in the pair accounting for 93% (51 of 55) of the points scored for Keene State in the win.
• Over the past two games, Luizzi and Rautiola have combined for 94 points and accounted for 90% (104 of 116) of the Owls points.
• Rautiola's miss at the free throw line in the fourth quarter ended her streak of 24 consecutive free throws made, dating back to two weeks ago against UMass-Dartmouth.
• Krysinski's 14 rebounds are the most in a game for the Owls this season, as nobody has had more than 10 rebounds in a contest so far.
• Rautiola is now ranked in the top 30 in the Division III women's basketball scoring on the season, and second among freshmen with 19.5 points per game.
• Magro of Castleton, who was averaging 19.3 points per game, ranking 31st of all scorers in Division III women's basketball only scored two points on 1-10 from the floor for the Spartans in the loss. 

 
Up Next
Keene State's next game will come in less than 24 hours, as they will travel to take on Plymouth State on Thursday, February 1st, at 5:30 PM, and look to make it eight consecutive wins over their in-state rival. The Owls defeated the Panthers, 61-51, in their previous meeting earlier this season on January 24.
Vermont State Castleton will next play against RV UMass-Dartmouth at home, on Saturday, February 3, at 12:00 PM. The Spartans will look to get revenge after falling to the Corsairs in their previous meeting this season, 77-72, on January 6.