Keene State women ranked seventh in regional basketball poll

Keene State came up short against ECSU in the LEC tournament semifinals on Friday night

KEENE, N.H. 2/12/09 - The Keene State College women's basketball team is ranked seventh in the first NCAA Division III Northeast regional rankings announced on Thursday.  The Owls (18-4) join two other Little East teams in the poll; Eastern Connecticut State University (20-2) leads the conference contingent at No. 5, while Western Connecticut State University (17-4) is No. 6.  Amherst College tops the poll with a 21-1 record.  (Note: updated records)

"It's nice to be in a poll, but the only poll that matters is at the end of the season," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher.  "I'm excited for my players because they've worked very hard."

Keene State has already guaranteed the program's fifth consecutive season with at least 16 victories, boasting an 18-4 mark. The Owls are just four wins shy of matching the program's most successful season since joining the Little East Conference in 1998 in terms of victories and five victories shy of the all-time record of 23 wins set in 1989-90. Boucher and his charges have won 13 of their past 15 games, including in season-best six-game winning streak from Dec. 13, 2008 and Jan. 13, 2009.

The Owls are led by senior point guard Michele Boudreau (Readsboro, Vt.) and juniors Kristen Degou (Newburyport, Mass.) and Nicole Simmler (Oxford, Mass.). Running the Owls' offense, Boudreau tops the team in assists (3.0) and steals (2.9) per game.  Averaging 13.4 points per game, Degou has scored in double digits in the scoring column in 18 of 22 contests. She pumped in a season-best 21 points against intra-state rival Plymouth State (1/20).  Simmler, who is averaging 12.2 points and a team high 7.1 rebounds per game, has had five double-double performances this season.  She scored a season high 19 points against Amherst (12/2) and Plymouth (1/20) this year.

 Each of the Owls' remaining four games is in the conference circuit, including back-to-back games at Western and Eastern Connecticut, respectively.    

Keene State travels to Western Conn. on Saturday and will be at Eastern Conn. next Tuesday.  "We're facing two senior-laden teams that have been through a lot of wars," said Boucher.  "You want to be playing a little bit better every game toward the end of the season.  "I think since our losses to Eastern Conn. we've develop that mentality.  I hope that will be the came on Saturday. 

Earlier this season, KSC dropped a pair of highly-contested home games to Western Conn. (55-51) and Eastern Conn.  (64-61) and also came up short against Amherst College (54-47).