Keene, NH --- Playing its first home game in over a month, Keene State College defeated Worcester State College 61-46 in a non-conference women's basketball game at Spaulding Gym on Thursday night.

With the victory, Keene State (5-8) ended a two-game skid. Worcester State (8-6) saw its three game winning streak come to an end.

Timely shooting and solid defense enabled the Owls to jump out to an early lead they never would relinquish. KSC went up 17-8 after junior Sara Laudano (North Haven, CT) hit junior Courtney Cirillo (Windsor Locks, CT) for a backdoor lay-up at the 11:04 mark.  

That basket triggered a 21-5 run to end the half by the Owls.  Sophomore Sionhan Carnell (Quincy, MA) who had 11 first half points, hit a lay-up in the final minute of the half to send KSC to the locker room with a 38-13 lead. WSU hurt itself with 19 first-half turnovers.

In the opening frame, Worcester State shot 26 percent from the floor (5-for-19) while they could not stop the Owls who were hot finished the period with a 54 shooting clip (14-for-26).

After a runner off the glass by Laudano made it 42-19, WSC started cutting into the Owls lead in the second half.  The Lancers got their deficit down to 12 points (46-34) on a put-back basket by junior Molly Hein (Hudson, NH) with 9:50 to play.

Cirillo put the game away for the Owls. After making a conventional three point play, she made a steal and hit a lay-up to give KSC a 53-36 lead with 6:15 to go. Later in the half, sophomore Samantha Hemmingway (Newport, NH), who had five points and three rebounds, made a spinning left-handed lay-up in the lane to make it 57-41 with 3:51 to play. 

Cirillo, who finished with 15 points and seven rebounds and Carnell, who had 14 points, were the scoring stars for the Owls. Laudano, who chipped in with nine points, knocked down a pair of three-pointers.

Sophomore Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) and junior Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) each finished with 10 points for the Lancers. Charette had a team-high five rebounds.

WSU improved to only commit five miscues in the entire second half. The visitors also held a 28-24 edge in points in the paint while Keene State had leads in points off turnovers (23-18) and second chance points (10-8).

Neither squad shot particularly well from beyond the arc. The Blue and Gold only hit two of their 14 attempts (14 percent) while KSC were three for 14 from three-point land (21 percent).

Both teams return to conference play on Saturday. Keene State hosts UMass-Dartmouth in Little East action at 1 o'clock and Worcester State returns home for a MASCAC game against Framingham State at 3 PM.

Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Keene State Sports Information