Junior All-American Johannah Leedham led a balanced Ravens effort
with 15 points.
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Ravens hot first half the difference in posting 12th win in 13
tries
Boxscore
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February
16, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University, ranked
25th in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll
and first in the East Region rankings, rolled to its
12th win in 13 contests with an 88-66 decision over
Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball
action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium tonight.
Junior All-American and Great
Britain international Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port,
England/Cheshire Academy (Conn.)), the reigning State
Farm/WBCA Division II Player of the Year, led a balanced Franklin
Pierce effort with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field,
2-for-5 from three-point range, to go with five rebounds, two
assists and two steals in 26 minutes of play. Senior
Jennifer Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England/Cheshire Academy
(Conn.)) added ten points, four rebounds and three
steals.
Senior Vanessa Power made 3-of-4 three-pointers en route to 11
points off the bench.
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Senior Vanessa Power
(Mildura, Australia) and junior Kirsten Doldoorian
(Brimfield, Mass./Oxford), a transfer from Saint Anselm,
each netted 11 points as they combined to shoot 7-for-11 from the
field and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc off the bench. Doldoorian
added four rebounds and finished shooting 3-for-6 from the field,
including 3-for-5 from three-point land, while Power made 4-of-5
shots from the field, including 3-for-4 from deep.
Freshman Megan Howard
(Saint Paul, Minn./Central) posted a double-double to lead
Saint Anselm with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior
Justine Lyons (Reading, Mass./Reading) netted a
game-high 17 points, aided by 4-of-7 shooting from three-point
range, three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Jennifer
Gureckis (Nashua, N.H./New Hampton Prep) also buried
4-of-7 three-pointers in scoring 16 points to go with three
rebounds and two assists.
Franklin Pierce finished shooting
51.7-percent (31-for-60) from the field, after connecting at 55.9%
(19-34) in the first half to build a 16-point (48-32) halftime
lead. The Ravens buried 11-of-22 (50%) three-pointers, including
8-for-14 (57.1%) in the opening half. Saint Anselm finished
shooting 39.7-percent (23-for-58) from the field after hitting at
48.1% (13-27) over the opening 20 minutes. The Ravens also posted a
25-11 advantage in points off turnovers on the night, turning the
ball over 14 times compared to 21 for the Hawks.
Franklin Pierce never trailed,
using a 15-5 run over a seven minute span to put its lead into
double-figures for the first time (28-14) after a layup from
freshman Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland)
and a three by Doldoorian just past the midway point of the half.
The Ravens lead peaked at 18 (47-29) after a Jennifer Leedham three
with 1:39 to go before halftime, before the visitors settled on the
16-point (48-32) advantage at the break.
Saint Anselm closed within 12
(51-39) after a layup by junior Courtney May (Lakeville,
Mass./Apponequet Regional) with 17:20 to play, but
Franklin Pierce used a 13-5 spurt over the next five minutes to
extend its lead to 20 points (64-44) after back-to-back Doldoorian
three's and the Ravens were never seriously threatened again. The
Ravens lead grew to as much as 26 points on two occasions in the
final ten minutes before settling at the 22-point winning margin.
Franklin Pierce (19-5, 16-4 NE-10)
is back in action on Wednesday when it visits Assumption College at
5:30 p.m. The Ravens return home next Saturday, February 21, for
their WBCA PinkZone event against American International College at
1:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (4-21, 2-18 NE-10) hosts Saint Michael's
College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
