Third Quarter Run Pulls Hawks Away From Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (January 31, 2018) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball senior guard Jemma Thacker (Nairne, South Australia) scored a team-high 12 points while freshman forward Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) added nine points off the bench in a 66-53 Northeast-10 Conference setback to Saint Anselm College Wednesday night at The Fieldhouse. With the win, the Hawks glide to 13-9 overall and 9-6 NE10 while the Ravens dropped their 14th conference showdown.

Thacker snagged five boards, dished off a team-best four helpers and came up with two steals. Cooney came down with three boards and blocked two shots. Teammate Diondra Woumn (Lynn, Mass.) grabbed a team-high 12 boards while handing out four assists and adding eight markers. Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) drilled two three-pointers and finished with eight points in 13 minutes off the bench.

For the Hawks, sophomore Boston College transfer Shannon Ryan double-doubled with a game-high 22 points and a contest-best 14 caroms. She stuffed four shots and was 9-of-18 (50.0%) from the hardwood. Team captain Clairee Putnam dropped 18 points and drained 4-of-7 (57.1%) from long range.

The Hawks opened up the game with a 9-0 scoring spurt capped off by a Ryan jumper in the middle of the paint. Franklin Pierce finally got on the board when Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) buried a catch and shoot corner trey fed by Mya Mosley (Worcester, Mass.) to make the score 9-3 in favor of the guests. About a minute later, Mosley cut the deficit to 9-5 when she drove to the rack for an easy two. With 46 seconds left in the quarter, Holmes hit a deep three-ball to tie the score at 17 all. On the next trip down the court, Hawks sophomore forward Sara Messler matched Holmes with a long-range connection of her own to reestablish the three-point edge. Claudia Tucci (Trumbull, Conn.) concluded the first by driving the baseline for a lay-in, which made the score 20-19 after 10 minutes.

In the second quarter, Thacker gave the Ravens a one-point advantage when she notched a right-wing three-pointer assisted by Akins. Saint Anselm regained the edge before back-to-back layups from Thacker and Holmes gave the Ravens their biggest lead of the game at 29-27. The Hawks closed the half by outscoring the Ravens 7-2 to lead by three, 34-31 at the intermission.

Saint Anselm started the second half by amassing a 14-4 run to open up a 13 point, 48-35 lead following another Ryan layup. The Ravens cut their deficit to nine when Thacker sank a mid-range jumper with 46 seconds left. Over the final quarter, the closest the Ravens would come is 10 points via a Woumn drive as the Hawks hung on for the double-digit win.

The Ravens head out on the road Saturday when they travel to Saint Michael's College for a 1:30 p.m. NE10 duel.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens ), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).