The playoff journey ended for Keene State Women’s Basketball after losing to Rhode Island College (RIC) in the semifinal round. The team was victorious against Eastern Connecticut State University (ESCU) in the quarterfinal before ending the season on Friday, Feb. 27.
The first of the Owls’ playoff opponents was ESCU, the bottom sixth seed that had travelled to Keene to take on the three seed. The Spaulding Gymnasium was packed with fans who were ready for tip-off on Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the Little East Conference (LEC) playoffs.
The home team took control of the play to start the game. Both teams traded baskets and possessions, but the Owls had a clear advantage in the physicality of the playoff contest. Offensive and defensive rebounds made a big impact for Keene State as Captain sophomore Ruby Dasaro led both teams with 12 overall rebounds, six of them coming in the first quarter.
The scoring could not have been more balanced between the teams and the first quarter concluded with a score of 20-20.
The back-and-forth that began in the first quarter continued into the second frame. Both teams were defending and rebounding,which limited the leaders of each team. For KSC, junior guard Brynn Rautiola had a slow night. The captain had led the team at 19 PPG and 64 three-pointers throughout the season, but was unable to deliver early to separate the Owls from ECSU.
Keene State trailed by as much as six points in the second quarter, but found its way back through rebounding and scoring by Dasaro and Rautiola. With a minute left in the quarter, sophomore guard Kiley Bundy hit a three-pointer to bring KSC within a point of the road team. ESCU headed into the half with a 33-32 point lead.
Keene State came out firing to begin the second half as senior forward Avery Stewart nailed a three-pointer and Dasaro hit a pair of shots. With the lead at six, first-year Sydney Cassidy secured a steal on defense and went the other way for two points. Midway through the third quarter, the home Owls held a 45-37 lead in the LEC quarterfinal.
The surge from Keene State lost its momentum towards the end of the quarter, but ESCU returned with a surge in points of its own. Turnovers on offense and an inability to guard in tight brought ESCU back as the Owls let in three consecutive baskets in the paint. The third quarter ended at 48-46 in favor of KSC.
If the Owls could not find a way to score frequently in the second half, they found a way to defensively keep themselves ahead. The next points from Keene State came almost four minutes into the quarter, with only one free throw given up in that time.
Dasaro returned under the basket to give Keene State some points, and Stewart made her presence felt with another three-pointer at a key time for the Owls.
With two and a half left in the game, ESCU could not find the points to surge back to gaining a lead. Continuous inside play from Dasaro got the ball back on the defensive end and also gave the Owls second chance points on the offensive end. KSC ended the game up by six points with a final score of 60-54.
The Owls advanced to the semifinal round of the LEC playoffs and hit the road to take on RIC. Keene State fought as hard as it could on the road and away from the Owl faithful. The KSC Women’s Basketball team fell short with a score of 73-54 and RIC moved on to be dominated by a talented University of Southern Maine team in the LEC Championship.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
