Women's Hoops Bests Keene State 66-58

KEENE, N.H. - Senior Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) went off for a season-high 20 points as the Worcester State University women's basketball team grabbed a 66-58 non-conference victory over Keene State College Saturday afternoon at the Spaulding Gymnasium.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 6-3 on the season, while the Owls drop to 2-6.

Jasmin Mitchell came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting (2-of-3 from deep).  She also made 4-of-5 free throws.  Hien Thach had 11 points and three rebounds, while Tamra Gonyea chipped in 10 points and three rebounds. Worcester State was led by Surprenant's 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Lancers opened the game by scoring eight of the first 10 points and widened their lead to 14-5 at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter after back-to-back threes from Surprenant and Sam Maglione (Lancaster, Mass.). KSC then sprung to life, going on a 9-0 run in the next 2:18 to tie the game, finished with a jumper from Thach and a three from Mitchell. Worcester State led 17-16 after one, a quarter in which the Owls shot 54% from the floor. A Kenzie Bennett triple a little less than two minutes into the second put KSC ahead for the first time (19-17). It was closely contested over the remainder of the half, as the teams mostly traded points before WSU scored the final four. Two free throws from Abby Thut at the 1:57 mark tied the game at 26, but layups from Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) and Surprenant put the Lancers ahead 30-26 at the break.

Worcester State pulled away to start the third quarter, as a three from Calli Korbey (Hopkinton, Mass.) a little over four minutes in highlighted a 13-5 run that put the Lancers ahead by 12, their largest lead of the game.  It was still 45-33 WSU at the 4:40 mark, but Keene State closed the frame by scoring the final seven points to make a game of it. A three-point play from Gonyea chipped the deficit to seven and Jenny Freedman's jumper in the waning seconds of the quarter made it 45-40 after three. The Owls were still on the comeback trail, as another Freedman bucket less than two minutes into the fourth made it a three-point game and, later, a Mitchell three kept KSC within that same margin (52-49) with 6:59 left. Gonyea's free throw a few minutes later made it a two-point game at 54-52, but Worcester State answered with the next five points. Keene State had one final surge in them, as another three-point play from Freedman made it 60-58 with 1:44 to go, but Berkel scored on consecutive possessions as WSU pulled away.

KSC shot 40% (20-of-50) from the floor and made 5-of-14 (36%) from three, while Worcester State connected on 22-of-52 (42%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33%) from long range. The Owls were 13-of-18 (72%) from the free throw line and the Lancers 15-of-24 (63%).

The Owls got a season-high 34 points from their reserves, outscoring their WSU counterparts 34-11. Worcester State's win at Spaulding Gymnasium was their first since the head-to-head series resumed in 2009-10.  Prior to that, the teams had not played since 1982-83.

Up next, Keene State has a pair of conference home games to close the pre-holiday slate. They first take on Rhode Island College on Wednesday, December 5 at 5:30 pm. Worcester State is off until Tuesday, December 11 when they visit Springfield College for a 5:30 pm start.

#LancerNation

Release courtesy of Keene State Sports Information.