Brittany Martelle with a team-high 18 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists

RINDGE, N.H. (December 10, 2013) – Senior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) registered 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, and the Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team put up a decent fight in the opening 20 minutes before falling 86-66 to No. 1 nationally ranked Bentley on Tuesday night at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens fell to 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Falcons improved to 10-0 and 7-0 in league play.

Sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) had nine of her 17 points in the first half, as the Ravens hung tough with Bentley only trailing 38-32 at the break.

The Falcons, though, showed their tremendous depth in the second 20 minutes, scoring 10 of the half's first 13 points to open up a double-digit lead on the way to eventually outscoring the Ravens 48-34.

Bentley got to work on the glass in the second half, outrebounding the Ravens 29-15, including ripping down 15 offensive rebounds that led to a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points. Lauren Battista netted 16 of her game-high 27 points in the second half, while Jacqui Brugliera and Courtney Finn went for 10 points apiece in the frame. Brugliera finished with 17 points, while Finn and Jen Gemma each netted 12.

Martelle scored 12 points in the second half, as the Ravens tried to claw their way back into the game.

Bentley also committed just two turnovers in each half, while forcing the Ravens into 18, and scoring 22 points off of those.

Sophomore guard Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.) was Franklin Pierce's other double-figure scorer with 14 points, including eight in the first 20 minutes. Her deep three with 12:43 remaining knotted things up at 18-18, and the Ravens were playing with a lot of poise against the nation's top-ranked team.

Bentley tried to pull away, but the Ravens kept things interesting, first pulling within three at 26-23 with a three-pointer from senior guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.), and a jumper from Jasmyne Fogel (Bridgeport, Conn.) minutes later to keep the score close. Charette's three-point play on a layup and free throw with 4:25 left pulled Franklin Pierce to within six, but neither side scored the remainder of the half.

Unlike the final 20 minutes, Franklin Pierce outworked Bentley on the boards in the first half registering a 19-16 edge. Gardner had five boards in the frame.

Franklin Pierce shot well from the field, converting on 47 percent of its attempts, including an impressive 8-of-13 effort from three-point range (62 percent). Bentley shot 43 percent from the floor, but a cold 24 percent from beyond the arc.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Friday when the Ravens travel to face Caldwell at 5 p.m. It will be the Ravens' final game of the first half of the season before taking next week off for finals and then the holidays.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women's basketball, please visit the team's page at http://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 Franklin Pierce women's basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)