Box Score KEENE, N.H. – With a game-high 28 points by Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass.) women's basketball was able to survive as they held on to earn a 88-78 double overtime Little East Conference win over Keene State College Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 88, Keene State College 78 (2OT)
UMass Boston (4-4, 1-1 Little East Conference)
Keene State (6-4, 1-1 Little East Conference)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After seeing their 20-point lead disappear over the final quarter and a half, the Beacons went back-and-forth with their conference foe through the first overtime period. Even at 70-70 heading into the second OT, the Beacons offense came alive for one final push, and outscored the Owls 18-8 over the final five minutes of Saturday's contest.
Junior Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) did a majority of the scoring for the Beacons in the second overtime, as she scored six straight points to give UMass an 83-74 lead. The Beacons would then clinch the victory at the free throw line with Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) and Alecia Quinones (Stoughton, Mass.) combing for UMass Boston's final five points.
Kelsey's afternoon consisted of nine field goals, with four coming from behind the arc. She also went a perfect 6-for-6 at the line to carry the Beacons offense. Mathieu ended the win with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, which also included four 3-pointers. Burston, led the Beacons with seven assists to go along with her 12 points to cap-off the Beacons top-3 scorers.
Leading 50-38 heading into the fourth, the Beacons were able to keep their distance from the Owls in the opening minutes, thanks to a pair of jumpers from Kelsey. From there, the Owls offense would come alive as they erased a then 14-point lead to make it a one possession (54-52) affair with 3:42 left in regulation.
Michaela Ilebode (Malden, Mass.) would score the first points in over five minutes at the free throw line to make it 56-52 with just over three minutes left. The two teams would then exchange baskets over the final two minutes, with Keene State making it a one-point (60-59) game on a lay-up by Stephanie D'Annolfo.
With just 28 seconds left, the Owls tied the game at 60-all on a made free throw by Amanda Petrow. On the Beacons next possession, they would look to Kelsey to score the go ahead basket, which she did to make it 62-60 with 13 seconds left on the clock.
Unfortunately, that lead was short lived as Keene State was able to draw a foul and convert a pair of free throws to make it 62-62 with just nine ticks left on the clock. The Beacons would try to beat the clock on a long range 3-point attempt, but the shot would just miss forcing the first overtime period.
Keene State outscored UMass Boston 36-27 over the final 20 minutes of play, with 26 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.
In OT, Keene State came out firing and quickly found themselves in control of the scoreboard as they took a 68-62 lead. A 3-pointer by Mathieu made it a one-possession game (68-65) with 2:50 left. Keene State would score one last field goal over that final two minutes, while UMass managed to battle back with five points all coming from Kelsey to even the score at 70-70.
Keene State was unable to convert on a pair of field goal attempts in the final seconds of the first overtime, giving the Beacons a second chance in the never OT.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston 44.4% (28-63) from the field, and 50.0% (13-26) from 3-point range
- The Beacons shot a season-high 95.0% (19-20) from the free throw line
- The Beacons held a +2 (46-44) on the glass, with Kelsey pulling down a team-high nine rebounds
- Saturday's win marked the Beacons 10th over Keene State, and their first at Keene since December 8, 2012
- Saturday's contest marked the first time that the two teams have ever gone to double overtime
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will host Westfield State University on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
