Marielle Giroud goes for 16 points in the Ravens win

RINDGE, N.H. (February 8, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team completed a two-game regular season series sweep of Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday night with a 67-62 triumph at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens won their second straight to improve to 15-7 overall and 12-6 in the Northeast-10, while the Penmen dipped to 17-7 and 12-6 in league play.

Senior center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) recorded her fourth-straight double-double with 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. She shot 9-of-13 from the floor and was a big part in the Ravens shooting a solid 46 percent (26-of-56) as team.

Classmate Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) followed with 16 points, while also collecting nine boards, dishing out five assists and swiping three steals. Junior guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) added 12 points, including knocking down a pair of three-pointers. Senior Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) came off the bench to toss in eight points, while also adding three assists and a pair of steals, while junior Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) ripped down eight boards to help the Ravens gain a 35-30 advantage on the glass.

Sloane Sorrell paced the SNHU attack with a game-high 25 points, while Christine Duffy had a memorable game by handing out 16 assists and breaking the school record for career helpers in the process. Victoria Wiseman chipped in with 10 points off the bench, while Jaffrey, N.H. native Brooke Springfield handed out four assists and scored three points in her first collegiate game in Rindge.

Wednesday's game was extremely close for the entire 40 minutes, especially in the waning minutes where neither side could gain the upper hand. SNHU took a 49-46 lead, which seemed like a huge advantage during this game, with 12:12 remaining when Lorreta Rocha notched a steal and went the length of the court for a coast-to-coast layup. Rocha's layup capped a 16-8 run by the Penmen, who had trailed by five at 38-33 two minutes into the second half.

The Penmen couldn't keep the momentum for long and Franklin Pierce roared back with seven-straight points, kick-started by a triple from Johnson and followed with back-to-back layups from Giroud and White. Giroud came up big on the defensive end during the Ravens mini-run as she swiped a steal from Duffy and went the length of the court for her own coast-to-coast basket.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes. White hit a drop-step layup in the post to make it 55-52 Ravens, but Sorrell and Rocha put in layups on consecutive possessions to give Southern New Hampshire a slim 56-55 edge with 5:34 to go.

Franklin Pierce called a timeout to stem the tide and it worked as the Ravens came out of the break and got a nice feed from sophomore guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) to White, who turned and laid in an easy basket to put the Ravens up 57-56.

SNHU tried to answer at the other end, but Megan Smith's jumper was short and White was there to grab the rebound. She was awarded for her work on the glass on Franklin Pierce's next possession as Saab dumped a pass to White on the low block and she was able to muscle her way under the basket for an easy two, which gave Franklin Pierce a 59-56 lead with 4:15 left.

White wasn't finished for Franklin Pierce as the Ravens began to seize control of the momentum in the final minutes. Rocha hit a pair of layups over the next minute, but White responded each time with a layup of her own to keep SNHU from retaking the lead and giving the Ravens a 63-60 lead with 2:11 remaining.

The Penmen's chances for a come-from-behind win in the waning minutes evaporated as they went cold shooting on their next two possessions and were forced to foul. Giroud and Cowen made sure to ice the win for the Ravens as they both converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.

White scored 14 of her points in the second 20 minutes as the Ravens shot 52 percent (13-of-31) from the field. White also came up with a big game earlier in the season when Franklin Pierce downed SNHU, 63-51, in Manchester back on Nov. 30. In that game, she went for a double-double of 25 points and 17 rebounds. With Wednesday's win, the Ravens now hold the tiebreaker over the Penmen if any scenarios exist at the conclusion of the regular season in regards to post-season seeding for the NE-10 tournament.

Franklin Pierce came out shooting the ball well in the opening minutes of the game and took an 8-2 lead two-and-a-half minutes in following a pair of layups from Saab, one from Giroud and another from White.

Johnson hit a driving layup minutes later to extend the lead to 12-5, but the Penmen quickly rallied with an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead with 12:28 to go until halftime. The teams continued to trade baskets throughout the remaining minutes of the first half, but the Ravens ended the frame by scoring seven of the final nine points to take a 34-29 advantage into the locker room. Sophomores Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) and Jessica Hurd (Kegworth, England) helped out in the final rally by scoring two and five points, respectively.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to Manchester to face Saint Anselm at 1:30 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).