KSC Women’s Basketball coasted to a 98-70 Valentine’s Day victory against the Wolves of Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Owls entered the Little East Conference (LEC) game looking to rebound after a 48-88 loss to UMass Dartmouth. The 40-point loss was the worst of the Owls’ season by a wide margin. The Wolves arrived in Keene after a high-scoring 81-77 win against Vermont State Castleton.
The first half was all Owls, leading 57-31 at the end of the half. The game started slowly with an 11-6 Keene State lead three minutes into the first quarter. Shortly after, the Owls went on a run, outscoring the Wolves 42-14 in the remaining quarter. Junior guard Brynn Rautiola put up 25 points through the first half, as well as three steals.
The third quarter began with WestConn shrinking the lead, if only marginally. WestConn outscored the Owls 11-7 through the first eight minutes of the quarter. However, the Wolves were stalled when Keene State went on a 20-point run in the last two minutes of the quarter, helped by a pair of three pointers by first-year forward Savanna Scali and one by Rautiola. The Owls piled on another 16 points in the fourth quarter, despite the Wolves scoring 18 of their own in a last-ditch effort. Keene State went 3-7 from three and 8-16 from the field in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Owls move to 16-7 overall and 10-4 in conference. Keene State holds onto its third place spot in the LEC with two games left to play in the season. The Owls next play Rhode Island College on Saturday, Feb. 21, for their senior night and a major conference matchup.
Frank LeBlanc can be contacted at
fleblanc@kscequinox.com
