WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Eleven days ago, the Keene State College women's basketball team came to Eastern Connecticut State University's Geissler Gymnasium and posted an emphatic 29-point win over the Little East Conference leaders.

Sunday, the Owls returned in the championship game of the LEC tournament. The outcome was not as emphatic, but was none-the-less decisive as Keene managed its first tournament title in the 31-year history of the tournament with a 71-58 victory over the two-time defending LEC tournament champion Warriors.

Keene (21-7), ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III Northeast Region, receives the NCAA Division III tournament bid awarded the LEC tournament champion, giving the program its third NCAA invitation, second as a member of Division III. Ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III Northeast poll, Eastern (20-8) is in the mix for an NCAA tournament at-large selection.

A winner of ten straight, Keene never trailed after the opening two minutes. The Owls set the tempo in that first quarter, using a mini six-point run to turn a one-point lead into seven,13-6. Keene pushed the lead to eight by the end of the first quarter, and though it was still early, Keene kept Eastern at arms' length the rest of the way.

Trailing by 13 after three quarters, Eastern made one attempt to get back into contention when freshman forward Mya Villard (Cromwell) completed a three-point play with a layup and junior guard Kelly Reardon (Holyoke, MA) canned a three-pointer to make it 51-44 with just over eight minutes left in the game. At that point, Keene turned to its balanced inside-out game, outscoring Eastern 12-2 as the lead ballooned to 17, 63-46, with less than six minutes left.

Four different players contributed to the 12-2 scoring spurt that locked up the team's first LEC tournament championship in its third finals appearance. Senior forward Stephanie D'Annolfo (Tyngsborough, MA), who was unstoppable all afternoon with left-side drives en route to MVP honors, got it going with an inside bucket, junior guard Sandi Purcell (Hudson, NH) – an MVP candidate herself – stuck one of her four three-point field goals, and freshman forward Kenzie Bennett (Lake George, NY) finished off a three-point play with a foul shot. After two Eastern missed field goal tries, Purcell added two more free throws, and junior guard Lydia Vital (Cambridge, MA) grabbed a defensive rebound and completed a drive to the bucket to close out the 12-2 rush.

Purcell (23 points) and the 5-foot-10 inch D'Annolfo (21) combined for 44 points for Keene, each connecting on nearly half of their shots (both were 8-of-17). Senior forward Amanda Petrow (Methuen, MA) had 13 points (6-of-8 FG) and 12 rebounds, helping the Owls dominate the boards (+15) over one of the conference's leaders in rebounding margin. Vital chipped in 11 points and despite handling the ball primarily, did not turn the ball over in 36 minutes. Purcell reached the career 1,000-point plateau with a three-pointer with 2:37 left in the third quarter.

In 24 minutes off the bench, Villard tossed in a career-high 20 points (8-of-10 FG, 4-of-4 FT) without a turnover, but three Eastern starters were limited to eight points on 4-of-18 field goal shooting. Reardon followed Villard with 14 points with only one turnover in 40 minutes, and senior guard Jordyn Nappi (Southington) had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. D'Annolfo spent much of the game guarding the 5-foot-4 inch Nappi – the LEC's third-leading scorer – and hurried her into missing 11 of 14 attempts from the floor.

In two weekend games, D'Annolfo had 35 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals, while Purcell totaled 36 points (seven three-pointers), ten rebounds and six assists.

In two weekend games, Villard scored 30 points and grabbed ten rebounds, with Reardon scoring 28 with five assists and five rebounds and only three turnovers in 75 minutes. Senior center Lexis Foster (Groton) led Eastern on the boards with 14 rebounds in two games and blocked nine shots, giving her program records of 115 this season and 171 in her four-year career.