Brittany Martelle with game-high 22 points for the Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (February 22, 2014) – Junior forward Jessica Hurd (Kegworth, England) tallied a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team celebrated 2014 Senior Day on Saturday with a satisfying 69-54 win over Merrimack at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens snapped a two-game losing skid in improving to 15-10 overall and 12-8 in the Northeast-10, while the Warriors dipped to 11-14 and 7-13 in league play.

It was Hurd’s fourth double-double of the season and first since she went for 15 points and 10 boards in a win over Saint Michael’s earlier this month. She was 7-of-13 from the floor on Saturday, and also logged three assists, one block, and a steal.

Joining Hurd in the offensive outburst was senior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.), who pumped in a game-high 22 points, and help the Ravens pull away from the Warriors in the second half. It was Martelle’s eighth game this season going over 20 points.

Nursing a slim 31-28 lead early in the second half, Martelle reeled off a string of 10 points to kick start a 14-7 run by the Ravens to open up a 45-35 lead with 12:43 remaining. She hit driving layups on three-consecutive possessions, and capped it with a pair of foul shots.

Hurd had a jumper to aid the rally, as she had 10 points of her own in the final 20 minutes.

Sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.), who had 16 points in the win, netted six-consecutive points minutes later in the frame to put the Ravens up by 15 at 55-40 with a little more than eight minutes remaining.

Franklin Pierce kept its lead out around double-digits the remainder of the game to seal the win.

The Ravens shot 48 percent from the floor in the second half, while limiting Merrimack to just a 35-percent shooting clip. Franklin Pierce, overall, shot 47 percent from the field for the entire game, and 44 percent from long range as well.

Shelby Secor was Merrimack’s lone double-figure scorer with 17 points.

Franklin Pierce came out gunning by scoring 23 of the game’s first 34 points, as senior guard Brooke Coderre’s (Woonsocket, R.I.) three with 6:41 to go in the first half put the Ravens up 23-11.

The Warriors, however, slowly chipped away at the deficit by outscoring the Ravens 14-8 the rest of the stanza to pull within six at halftime at 31-25. Secor had the final five points of the period for Merrimack by converting a three-point play and adding another layup.

The game continued to remain close until Martelle’s hot shooting propelled the Ravens in the second half to pull away for the win.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens close out the regular season by traveling to take on Bentley in Waltham, Mass. at 5:30 p.m.

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(.)