Ravens commit too many turnovers in setback to the Owls

RINDGE, N.H. (January 3, 2012) -- The No. 23 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team dropped an 81-74 decision to Southern Connecticut State on Tuesday at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens fell to 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Owls improved to 8-3 and 6-2 in league play.

Senior forward Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) led Franklin Pierce with a double-double of 21 points and 18 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while classmate Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) followed with 15 points. Graduate guard Jasmyra Saunders (Trenton, N.J.) came off the bench to pump in a season-high 14 points, while also swiping two steals and blocking a pair of shots.

Four Owls scored in double-figures, led by Sylvonya Moore's 21 points. Keshia Primo netted 17 points in a reserve role, while Camille Fantini and Alex Fiola added 16 and 10 points, respectively.

The Ravens owned a 44-40 advantage on the boards as nine of the 10 Ravens that played had at least one rebound, including seven from junior forward Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.). 

However, Southern Connecticut forced Franklin Pierce into 27 turnovers and scored 32 points off of those. The Owls did a much better job of taking care of the ball, turning it over only 15 times and only yielding 12 points off of those.

Franklin Pierce came out of the gates strong in the first half and built a 23-17 lead a little more than seven minutes in. White sparked the surge with nine points, while Giroud added five points, including a three-point play on a layup and foul shot to cap the rally.

Southern Connecticut, though, answered by scoring the game's next 15 points to take a 32-23 lead with 5:51 left in the half. Fantini bomed in a pair of triples and Fiola chipped in with five points, including hitting a driving layup.

Franklin Pierce didn't have an answer of its own as that 15-0 run was part of a 27-7 run by the Owls to close out the first half as they took a 44-30 lead into the locker room at halftime. Moore and Fantini had 11 points apiece in the opening 20 minutes, while Fiola chipped in with 10.

White had nine points in the frame, while Giroud and sophomore guards Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) and Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) netted five points each.

SCSU's defensive pressure was a key cog in the Owls closing out the half strong. They scored 19 points off of 13 FPU turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

Franklin Pierce got out to another hot start to begin the second half as the Ravens scored nine of the first 11 points to cut the deficit to 46-39 with 16:43 to go. White scored the opening four points of the half and Johnson dropped in a trey to aid the rally.

Again, SCSU countered and scored the next five points and eventually opened up a 64-43 lead at the 11:23 mark when Primo drained a three-pointer. 

The Owls would lead by as many as 23 points the rest of the way. Franklin Pierce tried to mount a rally, but could not get closer than the final margin of seven points.

Franklin Pierce shot 45 percent (28-of-62) from the floor, while SCSU shot 41 percent (29-of-71). The Owls were hot from behind the arc, knocking down 50 percent (7-of-14) of their attempts.

Franklin Pierce returns to action on Saturday when the Ravens travel to Syracuse, N.Y. to face Le Moyne at 1 p.m.

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).