Women's Basketball 11/17/2012 3:36:00 PM Peter Schmidt, Sports Information Director

Keystone Grounds Soaring Eagles for First Win of Season

Vasta picks up first collegiate coaching win as Giants defeat Elmira, 65-60

Women's Basketball 11/17/2012 3:36:00 PM Peter Schmidt, Sports Information Director

Keystone Grounds Soaring Eagles for First Win of Season

Vasta picks up first collegiate coaching win as Giants defeat Elmira, 65-60

Jenna Downs scored eight points, all in the second half, on Saturday to help lift Keystone to a win over Elmira.

Box Score

La Plume, PA – Keystone College notched their first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, knocking off visiting Elmira College 65-60 in non-conference women's basketball action at the Ace Spalding Arena, giving head coach Kristen Vasta her first collegiate coaching win. The Giants, who were led by Jazmyn Robinson's (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) 14 points and a Tiana Cuttino (Middletown, DE/Middletown) double-double, level their record at 1-1 while the Soaring Eagles slip to 0-2 on the young season.

After Keystone scored the first three points of Saturday's contest, Elmira rattled off the game's next eight points and would hold the lead until the 8:00 mark of the first half when the Giants tied the game at 18-18 after Alexis Jones (Leesburg, VA/Freedom) hit a pair of free throws. A three-pointer by Alex Balara put the Soaring Eagles back in front, but Keystone countered with a 9-0 burst to hold a 27-21 lead with 2:36 to play in the half and would hold a 32-28 advantage at the break.

Keystone featured a balanced offense in the first half, getting points from 10 different players led by Chantel Blake's (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) seven points and Robinson's five. Robinson added a team-leading five rebounds and three assists while Cuttino pulled down four boards in the opening half for the Giants, who shot 29.6 percent from the field while going 14-20 from the free throw line.

Jessica Zoltowski paced Elmira in the first 20 minutes of play with eight points while Balara and Maria Thannhauser each had six points in the period for the Soaring Eagles, who shot 29.4 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the stripe in the first half.

Jenna Downs (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock Area) pushed Keystone's lead to six points with a lay-up early in the second half, but Elmira used a 10-4 run to tie the contest at 38-apiece with 14:55 to play. Robinson hit a jumper to put the Giants back on top and started a 12-1 run over the next four and a half minutes that gave the hosts a 50-39 lead with just over nine minutes left in regulation.

The Soaring Eagles would not go quietly, using a 6-0 run to narrow their deficit to just three point at 56-53 with 2:54 remaining. However, the Giants, who struggled from the free throw line in Thursday's opener against Stevenson, were solid from the line down the stretch, hitting seven of their eight attempts down the stretch to close out the win, with Cuttino going a perfect, 6-6 in the closing minutes.

Robinson's team-leading 14 points came on 5-10 shooting from the floor and a 3-4 effort from the free throw line. The sophomore guard also dished out a game-high four assists to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Cuttino finished with a double-double on 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Blake finished the contest with nine points while Downs added eight points after going a perfect, 4-4 from the field in the second half.

For the game, Keystone shot 36.4 percent from the floor while going 74.2 percent from the charity stripe, including shooting at an 81.8 percent clip in the second half.

Thannhauser led Elmira with 16 points and eight rebounds while Zoltowski ended the day with 15 points. Balara added 11 points and eight boards for the Soaring Eagles, who shot 29.9 percent from the field for the game and 66.7 percent on free throws.

Keystone hits the road on Tuesday for a non-conference game at Well College. Tipoff between the Giants and Express is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in Aurora, NY.

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