Senior co-captain Alli Gamache scorched the nets in the second half, drilling six 3-pointers and scoring 20 points
Box Score
(portions of the story courtesy Keene State)
KEENE, N.H. -- Senior point guard Michele Boudreau (Readsboro, Vt.) scored a career high 24 points, including six three-pointers, to lead Keene State College to a 83-69 victory over the University of New England in the championship game of the Keene State College Tip-Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.
Keene State won its own tournament for the 11th straight season to improve to 5-0. The Nor'easters saw their record slip to the .500 mark at 2-2.
Both teams had the three-ball flying in the fast-paced first half. The Owls, who knocked down nine of them, had their first six baskets from the field come from behind the arc. Boudreau connected on three of four threes for 11 first half points. However, KSC hit just 2 of 10 shots from the line, while UNE hit all nine of their shots from the charity stripe.
UNE hit six three-pointers in the first frame, including two by first-year guard Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) who had 11 first-half points. A lay-up by Paradis, who was named the all-tournament team, hit a lay-up in the closing minutes sent the teams to the locker room tied at 37.
With the score knotted at 40, KSC went on a 16-3 run, capped by a baseline three-pointer by junior forward Kristin Degou (Newburyport, Mass.), to go up 56-43 at the 13:21 mark.
The Nor'easters cut their deficit down to eight points on a three-pointer by senior guard Alli Gamache (Dudley, Mass.) with 2:59 to play.
Boudreau answered with a three-pointer on the Owls' next possession to push KSC's lead back up to 11 points (74-63) with 2:31 to go. From there, Keene sealed the victory from the foul line.
Gamache had 20 of her career-best 23 points after halftime. She nailed seven treys for the game, including six in the second stanza. Paradis finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
The Nor'easters take on nationally-ranked Bowdoin College in the Campus Center home-opener Tuesday. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The UNE/Bowdoin game will be Web cast live at http://athletics.une.edu/stream.asx
