Keene State 52, WPI 41

Box Score

Alyssa Sapp (Hartford, VT) and Michelle Boudreau (Readsboro, VT) shared game-high scoring honors with 12 points each to help Keene State defeat WPI 52-41 Monday afternoon in the championship game of the eighth annual WPI Invitational presented by Hilton Garden Inn.  With the victory, the Owls up their record to 5-4 while WPI falls to 3-5. 

In a back and forth first half that featured eight ties, Keene State used a 6-0 spurt in the final 1:10 to take a 26-20 lead into the locker room at the break.  Free throws played a key role in the first half as the Owls drained 8-of-10 tries while WPI connected on just 1-of-5 attempts.

WPI scored the first four points of the second stanza to get within two (26-24). However, the Owls strung together 11 of the next 13 points to take an 11-point lead (37-26) at 14:03. After a three-point basket from Danielle Gravely (Schenectady, NY) gave KSC a 43-34 lead, the visitors turned to their defense.  They held WPI scoreless for a 9:29 span late in the second half.  Tournament MVP Nicole Simmler (Oxford, MA) anchored the Owl defensive effort with a game-high five steals.  Keene State also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Engineers by a 49-33 margin.  Jen Cleaveland (Newington, CT) paced all players with 11 rebounds on the day.

The Engineers final run got them to with four with 1:26 remaining on a conventional three-point play by Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME) followed by a lay-up from Caitlin Macko (Cromwell, CT).  The Owls put the game away by connecting on 9-of-12 free throws over the last 1:24.

Dubois and Kate Maki (Fitchburg, MA) both netted nine points for the Engineers while Macko contributed seven points off the bench.  Dubois and Macko each dished out a game-best three assists.

Joining Simmler on the All-Tournament team was her teammate Sapp, Dubois and Maki of WPI, Angie Owens (Seaford, DE) of Wesley and Christina Sancinito (Wakefield, MA) of Curry.  Earlier in the day, Wesley knocked off Curry 70-55 in the consolation game.

WPI completes its current three-game home stand on Thursday when they entertain Johnson & Wales at 5:30pm.  Keene State heads to California for the Whittier Tournament.  The Owls will open play on Friday with a contest versus Bethany Lutheran of Minnesota.