GORHAM, Maine - Brynn Rautiola scored 21 points to lead three players in double-figures as the Keene State College Owls used a strong second half to defeat the University of Southern Maine Huskies 69-64 in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
Rautiola was 7-for-15 from the field, adding five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Valerie Luizzi added 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including a triple of threes, and had four rebounds and four assists. Samantha Lee rounded out the double-digit scored with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Southern Maine senior
Amy Fleming (Berwick, Maine/Noble) led all scorers with a season-high 23 points. Fleming was 8-for-14 from the field, and 4-for-8 from three as the only Husky in double digits. Senior
Tamrah Gould (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Memorial) had nine points and a career-high seven assists. Junior
Jade Smedberg (Oxford, Maine/Oxford Hills) added nine points and three rebounds, while senior
Liz Cote (Conway, N.H./Kennet) had eight points.
The Records:
Keene State (7-9, 3-5 Little East)
Southern Maine (8-10, 6-3 Little East)
Today's game marked the 69
th meeting between the Keene State College Owls and the University of Southern Maine Huskies. Southern Maine leads the overall series 49-20, and had won sixth straight against the Owls. Keene State's last win over USM was 48-45 on February 1, 2020.
How It Happened:
- Trailing 19-14 early in the second quarter, Southern Maine used a 14-0 run to surge ahead of the Owls, 28-19, with 4:00 remaining until the halftime break. The Huskies were 5-for-5 from the field during that stretch, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three. Smedberg, Gould, senior Tara Flanders (Windam, Maine) and Fleming each connected on threes for the Huskies, while Fleming added a short jumper.
- Exchanging points on their next possessions, Southern Maine led 30-21 with 3:29 on the clock, before the Owls scored the last four points of the quarter on a steal and a jumper from Rautiola and a layup from Lee off of a Rautiola assist to trail 30-25 at the half.
- Extending their run into the second half, KSC scored the first seven points of the third, capped by a three from Luizzi to take a 32-30 lead with 6:31 showing. A jumper from Fleming and a three from Gould returned the lead to the Huskies, 35-32, less than a minute later. After a three-point play from Rautiola tied the game up at 35, Southern Maine took its last lead of the game 37-35 (5:05) on a jumper from Cote before the Owls closed the quarter on a 14-5 run for a 49-42 lead headed into the fourth. The Owls outscored USM 24-12 in the third led by 10 points from Luizzi.
- KSC took its largest lead of the game, 51-42, on the first bucket of the fourth quarter. USM pulled to within four, 56-51, at 5:48 as Gould, Smedberg and Fleming each hit threes as part of a 9-5 spurt. After nearly a two-minute scoring spell, Lee hit a jumper to push the Owls lead back to seven, 58-51, before back-to-back threes from Fleming and Smedberg made it a one-point game (58-57) with 1:57 on the clock.
- With its lead trimmed to one, KSC's Lee snagged an offensive rebound, and then made two frees before Rautiola drilled a three at 1:17 to give the Owls a 63-57 advantage. From there, the Owls went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to close out the game. Fleming and Cote hit threes for USM in the final 30 seconds of the game for the 69-64 final.
Inside The Stats:
- Southern Maine finished the game shooting 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the field, but shot 46.7 percent (7-for-15) in the fourth quarter. Keene State shot 50.0 percent (23-for-46) from the field, including a 45.0 percent (9-for-20) from three. The Huskies were 14-for-44 from three.
- Keene State had a 33-29 lead in rebounds. The Huskies led on the offensive glass 13-6, led by four from Fleming. The Huskies and Owls each scored 11 second chance points.
- The Owls were 14-for-15 from the free throw line, while USM was 6-for-8
Up Next:
Southern Maine is on the road for its next two LEC contest, traveling to No. 3 Rhode Island College on Wednesday, January 24 (5:30 pm) and then to Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday, January 27 (1:00 pm).
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