RINDGE, N.H. (January 29, 2013) – The Franklin
Pierce University women's basketball team rallied from a
double-digit second-half deficit for the second-straight game on
Tuesday night as the Ravens picked up a 50-43 win over American
International at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens improved to
13-5 overall and 10-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Yellow Jackets
fell to 10-8 and 7-7 in league play.
Freshman forward Kara
Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) notched double-figures with 11
points, while junior guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket,
R.I.) netted 10 and had three rebounds, three assists and
a steal. Senior backcourt-mate Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans,
Vt.) followed with nine points, seven rebounds, three
assists and a trio of steals.
Franklin Pierce trailed by as many
as 11 points on two separate occasions in the second half before
mounting its winning rally. Ebony Easter's jumper for AIC at
the 15:56 mark staked the Yellow Jackets to a 34-24 lead, but they
would go scoreless over the next seven-and-a-half minutes.
The Ravens took advantage of
American International's inability to put the ball in the
hoop and they reeled off 12-consecutive points to go up by two with
9:19 left. Junior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield,
Conn.) and Johnson took turns swapping baskets to
kick-start the surge and senior Brooke Long's
(Richmond, Va.) two free throws gave the Ravens their
first lead of the game since the 12:07 mark of the first half.
Krista Ferrentino, who had a
double-double of 12 points and 18 rebounds, broke AIC's
scoreless spell with a layup to knot it at 36-all.
Charette answered with a
three-point play at the other end and junior guard Kate
McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) came alive minutes later with
a pair of baskets, including a three-pointer to stake Franklin
Pierce to a 45-40 lead with 3:53 to go.
Easter's layup at the 2:13
mark trimmed Franklin Pierce's lead to 45-43, but the Yellow
Jackets could not inch any closer and Long sealed the win for the
Ravens with four free throws in the closing seconds.
The Ravens trailed, 25-19, at the
intermission, but outscored the Yellow Jackets, 31-18, in the
second half. Franklin Pierce shot a little bit better in the second
half as it registered a 36 percent clip, compared to just a 27
percent success rate in the opening 20 minutes.
Franklin Pierce did a solid job
defensively as it limited AIC to just 26 percent shooting in the
second half (7-of-27), while also causing the Yellow Jackets to
commit eight turnovers, which the Ravens turned into 11 points.
The Ravens raced out to an 8-4 lead
minutes into the contest, but a scoreless spell of nearly 10
minutes enabled AIC to take the lead and build the six-point
advantage at halftime.
Easter was AIC's other
double-digit scorer as she logged 10 points.
In addition to its second-straight
double-digit come-from-behind win (FPU rallied from 24 points on
Saturday to defeat Pace 69-60 in overtime), Franklin Pierce also
claimed its seventh-consecutive home victory.
The Ravens return to action
Saturday when they travel to face Saint Rose at 1:30 p.m. in
Albany, N.Y.
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/FranklinPierceRavens).
Fans wishing to purchase women's basketball apparel can do so
on the athletic department's online store at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
