Panthers Upended By Keene State

The PSU Women’s Basketball team was outmatched in a Little East rivalry game at home against Keene State on Tuesday evening that left them 25 points short at the final buzzer.

The Owls opened the first half with two three pointers in the first two minutes by senior Christian Wojtas, who would go on to score a game-high 20 points, 17 of which were scored in the first half. Wojtas’ points were answered with a Panther free-throw by sophomore Kayla Wyland (Melrose, MA) and a long ball from Ace Lawrence (Middletown, CT), bringing the score to 6-4 at the 16 minute mark. This is the closest the Panthers would come to closing the Owl’s lead over the course of the game.

Lawrence would go on to sink seven more points in the first half and nine overall, becoming the Panther’s leading scorer for the game. Other first half contributions came from junior Taylor Perry (Simsbury, CT) with four points, sophomores Madison Beatrice (Newton, MA) and Rosalie Edmonds (Goffstown, NH) with three points each, and pairs of free throws for both senior Kelley Collins (Groveton, NH) and freshman Elizabeth Caron (Londonderry, NH). This brought the score to 37-22 at the first buzzer.

After halftime, Plymouth continued to struggle finding a rhythm, as Keene State scored the first points of the half again. Wyland responded to the Owl’s four-point opening drive by tacking on a layup with 15:36 left to play, and sinking a pair of free throws two minutes later. Keene followed with a 15-0 run over the Panthers for the next four minutes.

Over the remaining nine minutes, Plymouth was unable to catch the Owl’s, leaving the final score at 64-39.

“I think we struggled against Keene this season because they are a full court pressing team,” noted sophomore Savannah Miller (Smithtown, NY), who had five defensive rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block on the night, “we broke the press very well (in this game). However, after getting over half court we couldn’t slow our offense down and create something. We rushed a lot in both games and we just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop.”

With the loss, the Panthers drop to 6-18 on the season, 0-13 in the LEC. They close the regular season with their senior game against Rhode Island College in Foley Gymnasium Saturday at 1 p.m.