Stonehill’s Post Presence Too Much For Ravens in 72-46 loss

This Franklin Pierce University women's basketball recap is presented by Belletetes

EASTON, Mass. (February 16, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball freshman forward Izzy Lipinski (Farmington, Conn.) poured in a game-high 15 points while snaring a team-best eight rebounds – three offensive as the Ravens fell 72-46 to Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College Saturday afternoon at the Merkert Gymnasium. With the win, Stonehill moves to 17-7, 12-6 NE10 while the Crimson and Grey suffer their 19th loss overall and 16th in league play.

Stonehill allowed only three Ravens to score heading into the fourth quarter. FPU freshman guard Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) joined Lipinski in double figures with 13 points to go along with two rebounds.

The Skyhawks were led by sophomore guard Jennifer Worden who tallied 14 points, four caroms and two helpers on 5-of-10 (50%) shooting. Teammate Kayla Raymond recorded a double-double with 14 points, 11 boards, three blocks, and two steals while shooting 7-of-10 (70%) from the hardwood. Frontcourt partner Gabrielle Reuter manufactured seven blocks for the hosts as well.

The home team outscored the Ravens 46-to-24 in the paint and outrebounded them 44-to-28. They also held Pierce to 30.2% shooting efficiency.

Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) started the action when she drove down low through the right side and drew a foul in the act of shooting. She hit the back end of her freebies to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead. Worden put the hosts ahead 2-1 on the next possession via a layup. Grace Carter notched a bucket off a baseline out of bounds play to make it 4-1 in favor of Stonehill. On the ensuing Raven possession, Sulejmani glided through the left side for an uncontested two. She then regained the advantage to her squad by draining a mid-range jumper on the right wing just inside the arc. The Ravens three point lead stayed steady at three 11-8 when Holmes lofted a layup high off the window leading to a Stonehill 30-second timeout.

Following the stoppage, Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) stole the rock away from Emily Bramanti and Holmes buried a catch and shoot trey from the top of the point giving Pierce their first two-possession lead 14-8. The Skyhawks concluded the half collecting nine straight points to hold a 17-14 first quarter lead.

The hosts binge stretched to 11-0 as Tayler Wornum sank a left elbow jumper. Lipinski promptly stopped the spurt with a hard take through traffic making the score 19-16. Stonehill continued to tack on points as their lead expanded to 14, 30-16 and their run moved to 22-2 when Carter converted 2-of-3 at the line. At the 3:37 mark, Lipinski split her free throws to stop the Raven dry spell. A Kelsey Shaw to Morgan O'Brien connection at the end of the half increased the Skyhawks advantage to 36-20.

Stonehill owned the Ravens in the low post corralling 20 rebounds to the Pierce 11 and scoring 28 points compared to their counterparts six.

Gabrielle Reuter increased the Skyhawk lead to 23, 50-27 with 3:35 to play in the third. Five straight points from Sulejmani including a driving and1 dropped the Raven deficit to 18, 50-32. Stonehill grew the margin back to 20+ until a Lipinski lay-in and split free throws brought the margin back to 18, 53-35 at the end of the third. Late in the fourth quarter, a Rileigh Avila three-ball gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the battle.

The Ravens remain on the road this coming Wednesday, February 20th versus league foe Assumption College with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://www.fpuravens.com). 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://www.fpuravens.com/store). You can also follow the women's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensWBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/franklin_pierce_wbb/).