O'Keefes Double Trouble For WSC Opponents

November 8, 2009

By Tom Flanagan, Staff Writer

Worcester, MA --- College coaches often turn to their players for insight on potential recruits.

The current and future players may have been AAU teammates or high school rivals. Or, just maybe, the veteran and the recruit just happened to share a set of parents and have lived together for 19 years.

Such was the case when Worcester State women's coach Karen Tessmer started asking Reilly O'Keefe about her sister Meaghan.

"I said (Meaghan) wasn't the perfect basketball player, but nobody is," said Reilly, a Quaboag Regional product who won two Division 3 state championships and was a major part of the Cougars' dynasty. "I knew Meaghan could help our team. She's got the height and can score from the inside and from the outside. I also knew that she's a nice, quiet person, who will work hard and fit in with the team."

This season, Meaghan will be Reilly's teammate at Worcester State, marking the first time their names will be on the same roster since Reilly, then a senior, and freshman Meaghan helped their high school team win the 2006 state championship.

"I probably would have come to Worcester State, anyway, but it really helped to have Reilly here, especially as a freshman coming in," said Meaghan, a 6-foot-2 center.

Reilly began her college career at St. Anselm, but transferred after her sophomore season.

"It was really tough for me because the team was struggling," said Reilly, a 5-11 senior forward who averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds per game last season for the Lancers.

"Being (at Worcester State) would give me the chance to play close to home, and things have worked out great."

Having Reilly and Meaghan on the same team should be a plus for their parents, Lisa and Kevin, both Quaboag graduates.

Lisa, who played at Assumption College, and Kevin, who played at Springfield College, will see more basketball than most scouts this winter.

Reilly's twin sister, Kelsey, is a senior at Bryant University.

"We tried to convince Kelsey to transfer, but it's pretty hard to walk away from D1 basketball and a Bryant business degree," Reilly said. "I think she's a little bit jealous that Meaghan and I get to see each other every day, but we both talk to her at least once a day."

Reilly and Meaghan O'Keefe see plenty of each other on the practice floor, usually on opposite sides during the Lancers' drills and scrimmages.

"I don't take it easy on (Meaghan) at all," Reilly said. "She doesn't take it easy on me, either. If she stuffs me in practice, I get way more mad than I do when it's someone else. I'm tough on her, and I make her earn everything, but it's because I want her to get better, which will make the team better."

Competing against each other is nothing new to the O'Keefes.

"We're a basketball family. It's just something that everyone in our family does," Reilly said. "I can't even begin to count how many hours we all played in the driveway growing up."

The O'Keefes believe the skills and lessons learned growing up in a basketball-obsessed house were a major reason for their success.

"I think we just learned how to be competitive and how to win," said Reilly, a psychology major. "I think being in big games in high school is probably an advantage to us in college because we know how to deal with the pressure. We're also not used to losing, and I think that is a motivator for us."