WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. (MyKeeneNow) The Keene State College women’s basketball team faced off against the Framingham State University Rams on Sunday afternoon in the consolation game of the Morin Memorial Tournament. The Owls’ offensive struggles continued to open their season in the contest on the day, as they fell to the Rams, 60-42. 

Records

  • Keene State: 0-3 
  • Framingham State: 2-2 

How it Happened

Framingham State got out to a hot start as they scored on three of their first possessions, while Samantha Lee scored the first basket for the Owls and FSU jumped to a 6-2 lead in the first 1:54 of play. Over the next 5:34 of play, FSU added ten points, with Katherine Haselton leading the way with four. Over the same time frame, KSC tallied just three points with Ruby Dasaro making a free throw and Valerie Luizzi hitting a pair of free throws. The rest of the quarter, Brynn Rautiola made one layup for KSC while Faith Green made a free throw for FSU and the Rams took a 17-7 lead into the second quarter. 

Michelle Moreno increased the Rams’ lead to 12 after making a layup on FSU’s first possession of the second quarter. Neither team scored for the next two minutes, until Luizzi hit a three pointer for the Owls to pull within nine. Both teams traded baskets over the next three minutes of play with Faith scoring for the Rams and Lee scoring for the Owls. At the 5:07 mark, both teams scored on back-to-back possessions with Brodie Gannon making both of her free throws for the Rams, while Rautiola answered back with a layup for KSC. With 3:10 remaining in the half, Dasaro made a layup for the Owls to cut FSU’s lead to seven. The rest of the quarter, FSU outscored the Owls 7-4 with Rautiola logging all four points for the Owls coming from going 4-6 at the line to bring the score to 30-20 at the half. 

Jacqueline Schels hit a free throw for the Rams on their opening possession of the second half, but the Owls followed it up by going on a nine-point run over the first 4:09 of the half. Rautiola made a pair of layups, with another coming from Lee and a three-pointer from Luizzi all combined to cut the Rams’ lead to two. Over the remainder of the quarter, FSU reversed being outscored 9-1 to open the half, to outscoring the Owls 12-2 the rest of the quarter. Haselton led the way for the Rams over the span, with seven points coming from a layup, a pair of free throws, and a three pointer to give FSU a 43-31 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play. 

FSU built on their 12-2 run at the end of the third by scoring nine straight points over the opening 4:14 of the final quarter. Abigail Martin led the Rams by scoring four of the nine points coming from a pair of free throws and a layup to increase FSU’s lead to 52-31 over KSC. Angel Pillsbury became the fifth Owl to score a basket in the contest with 4:11 remaining to play, as her three-pointer was the first points for KSC in the fourth. On the Owls following possession, Dasaro made a layup and shortly after, Kiley Bundy joined the scoring with a three-pointer, to cut the Rams’ lead to 13 with 3:06 left to play. FSU responded with eight consecutive points of their own the rest of the way and the Owls did not score again until Anna Brown hit a three with under a second remaining to make the final score 60-42 for the Rams on the day. 

Inside the Paint

  • With the loss, the Owls fall to 0-2 in the two all-time matchups against the Rams, with the other contest coming seven years ago to the day, when the Owls lost to the Rams, 80-64 on No. 17, 2017. 
  • KSC falls to 0-3 to open their season for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. 
  • Rautiola led the Owls with 12 points on the day, while Haselton scored a game-high of 17 for the Rams. 
  • KSC shot 15-64 (23.4 percent) from the field and 5-32 (15.6 percent) from beyond the arc, while FSU shot 22-57 (38.6 percent) from the field and 4-16 (25 percent) from three. 
  • Luizzi led the Owls in assists, with a pair, rebounds with seven (two offensive and five defensive), and minutes played, with 34. 

Up Next

Keene State has over a week off before their next game, as they will travel to Worcester State University to take on the Lancers on Tuesday, November 26, at 5:00 PM for their next contest. 

Framingham State next plays against Lasell at home for their next game, as they will play on Friday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m.