Poor shooting dooms Ravens

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (January 2, 2011) – The No. 13-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team could not overcome a poor shooting performance on Sunday and dropped a close 54-51 decision to in-state rival Southern New Hampshire at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens dropped their second straight to fall to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in the Northeast-10. The Penmen improved to 4-7 and 2-5 in league action.

The setback marked the first time since the 2006-07 season that Franklin Pierce lost back-to-back games.

Junior forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) had a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds, while classmate Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) also notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Junior guard Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) came off the bench to net eight points for the Ravens.

Megan Smith tossed in a team-high 11 points for SNHU, while Sloane Sorrell followed with 10. Julia Houghtaling pulled down 12 rebounds and Christine Duffy had a strong game for the Penmen with six points, five assists and three steals.

Franklin Pierce trailed by as many as 11 points early in the second half before using an 11-1 run over a four-minute span to get within 36-35 with 10:33 to go. White had four points to aid the rally, while Cowen bombed in a big a three and Giroud capped it with a layup. Sophomore forward Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) also made a pair of free throws during the surge.

The game remained close for the next several minutes before SNHU opened up a comfortable 50-42 lead with 4:54 left. Kelly Chergey laid in a pair of baskets to help pad Southern New Hampshire's advantage.

However, the Ravens fought back and scored the next seven points, including a three-point play from Cowen to get within 50-49 with just 1:46 left. Sorrell answered at the other end of the court for the Penmen, but Giroud responded with a basket of her own to keep Franklin Pierce within one at 52-51 with only :18 left.  The Ravens were forced to foul coming off of the inbounds pass, and Michelle DeRoma calmly responded by making the ensuing two foul shot attempts.

The Ravens had one last chance, but Giroud's three-point attempt from the top of the arc with the buzzer going off clanged off the side of the rim, thus lifting the Penmen to victory.

SNHU shot a respectable 41 percent (11-of-27) from the floor in the second 20 minutes, while limiting the Ravens to just 30 percent (10-of-33) shooting.

There were four ties and seven lead changes throughout the first half as the back-and-forth opening stanza set the stage for the tightly contested final 20 minutes.

Southern New Hampshire used a 6-0 run late in the period to open up a 27-20 lead and eventually took a 28-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. Giroud had 11 points in the first half, while Sorrell was SNHU's top scorer with eight.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Wednesday night when the Ravens play host to Pace at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).