Women's Basketball's Run Ended By Keene State In 60-53 Defeat

Keene, NH --- Despite game-highs of 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks by Worcester State junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name), the Lancers fell to Keene State this evening, 60-53, in the Spaulding Gymnasium in non-conference women's basketball action.

With the victory, the Owls improve to 9-4 overall. WSU fell to 11-4 in the setback and saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end.

Following a trifecta by senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) which put Worcester State up 31-25 early in the second period, the Owls used a 12-5 spurt to take the lead and the 42-36 contest over with 11:01 left in the game.

As Keene State held the 47-40 advantage two minutes later, the visitors got back into the game when freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) sank a pair of free throws at the line and senior Kiesha Jones (Worcester, MA/Doherty) jacked a triple to spark a 7-0 charge to tie up the contest at 47-47 around the 7:00 mark.

Junior Kelsey Cognetta (Stamford, CT) though nailed a three-pointer and senior Courtney Roberts (Sutton, MA) added a basket in the paint to put the hosts up 52-47 for good as the Owls never relinquished the lead again.

With 1:58 on the clock, Perez hit a running lay-up to make the score 54-51 and on the very next possession, the Lancers had a chance to equal the score after a missed basket by Keene State.

But Frankian missed from long range and KSC took full advantage with a made field goal in the key by sophomore Sarah Kober (Easthampton, MA) to go back up by five points and 57 ticks left to play

Keene State canned all four of their bids at the charity stripe to secure the non-league triumph.

Worcester State clung to a 16-8 margin before the Owls swooped in with a 7-0 surge to trail by one point as 5:44 read on the scoreboard in the opening period. Kober, Purcell and sophomore Amanda Petrow (Methuen, MA) all made baskets in the run for Keene State.

The Lancers went back up by five points on the back of a trifecta by Frankian with 2:42 remaining (23-18) and established the 28-25 edge at the intermission after jumper by Langford just before time expired in the half.

Cognetta paced the Owls with 15 points, three assists and a trio of rebounds while Petrow registered 12 points and five boards. Kober missed a double-double with nine points and nine caroms.

Frankian chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds and Perez scored six of her eight points at the free throw line.

Keene State held the 39-35 advantage on the backboards – including an 18-8 margin in offensive caroms. The hosts also had the 30-18 margin in the paint and used 23 Lancer turnovers to hold a 20-13 lead in baskets off of turnovers.

The Owls also shrugged off a 30 percent effort from the floor in the opening half (10-for-34) and connected for a 40 percent clip in the final frame (12-for-30). For the game, the hosts only hit five of their 19 attempts from downtown.

Worcester State did shoot well in the contest finishing with a 38 percent line overall (17-for-45) and only missed three freebees (15-for-18 – 83 percent).

Both squads return their attention to their respective conference schedules this Saturday. The Lancers head on the road to play Bridgewater State at 3 o'clock while Keene State entertains UMass Dartmouth in a key LEC clash at 1 PM.