BOSTON, Mass.—After a back-and-forth first 40 minutes, Keene State College used a 17-2 run in overtime to earn a 68-56 win to stay unbeaten, on Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

THE BASICS

Keene State College 68, UMass Boston 56

(UMass Boston 6-3, Little East 0-2)

(Keene State 8-0, Little East 2-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Despite trailing for the majority of the first three quarters, UMass Boston was on the verge of halting the Owls' unbeaten streak in the waning moments. The Beacons took their largest lead of the game at 49-44 with 3:14 to play, only to have the Owls go on a 7-0 run over the ensuing 2:13.

Senior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) tied the game after grabbing her own rebound and hitting a layup with seven seconds left, and junior Chantel Jordan (Brockton, Mass.) forced overtime with some good defense on Kelsey Cognetta at the buzzer.

Murphy briefly gave the Beacons the lead in overtime with the opening bucket, but from there, Keene State would scored six in a row to take the lead and 17 of the next 19 points to cruise to their eighth-straight win. 

With the win, the Owls tied the 1989-90 team for the longest winning streak to a start a season in program history. 

Murphy led the Beacons with 15 points and 14 rebounds, to go along with her four steals, three assists and three blocks.

But it was Jordan and sophomore Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass.) who led the charge offensively on the day. Jordan knocked down 7-of-11 shots en-route to a career-high 14 points in 34 minutes of action.

Kelsey added a career-high 14 points of her own thanks to 6-of-6 shooting from the line, while junior Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) ended the day with three points and 10 rebounds. 

The Owls were led by their backcourt of Kelsey Cognetta and Sandi Purcell, who combined for 41 of the team's 68 points. Sarah Kober added 13 rebounds, while Amanda Petrow just missed out on a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

In a match-up of two teams with very different strengths, UMass Boston was able to slow the game down and hold Keene State to their second-fewest points of the season.

For the much of the game Keene's struggles offensively didn't matter, as the Owls led by seven after the first quarter and held a 26-21 edge at the break.

UMass Boston took a two-point lead after three quarters, thanks to a 12-6 run to end the third. 

The Beacons led the entire fourth quarter until Purcell knocked down two free throws with 61 seconds remaining. After a pair of empty offensive possessions, Murphy knotted the game at 51-51 with seven seconds left.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the contest, as UMass Boston hit 33.3 percent (23-of-69) and Keene State finished 32.8 percent (22-of-67).
• UMass Boston knocked down just 2-of-24 (8.3 percent) of their three-points attempts.
• Jordan's 14 points marked just the second-time in her career that she had reached double-figures.
• UMass Boston outscored Keene State 32-8 in bench points.

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will finish off 2015 with a home game against Husson University on Wednesday December 30 at 3:00 p.m.