RINDGE, N.H. (November 26, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball sophomore forward Izzy Lipinski (Farmington, Conn.) battled early foul trouble and scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the second half as the Ravens dropped a close contest 66-62 to Northeast-10 Conference foe Assumption College Tuesday evening at The Fieldhouse. With the win, the Greyhounds improve to 4-2, 2-0 NE10 while the crimson and grey's mark evens out to 3-3 and they remain winless in the conference.

Lipinski's season-high point total came off 6-of-11 (54.5%) shooting and a 6-of-8 (75.0%) performance at the charity stripe. She snared five rebounds, dished out four assists, blocked a game-best two shots and came away with two steals. She was one of three Ravens in double figures as team captain Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) sank three triples en route to 15 markers and Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) tacked on 14 points of her own.

Assumption took their first lead in the fourth quarter and heled the lead for three minutes even in the contest. FPU held the edge for 34:28 of the battle and led by as many as 10 points in the second period.

The Hounds were paced by a game-high 20 points from Brianna Capacchione who took only three-pointers as her field goal attempts (5-of-13). She corralled six boards and dished out two helpers. Anna Shaughnessy came off the bench to tack on 14 markers. The Ravens defense stifled reigning NE10 Rookie of the Week, forward Monica Spain to 0 points on 0-of-5 shooting with only one rebound and one assist in 17 minutes. Spain was a team-worst -8 on the evening.

The contest was even most of the way except for points in the paint which Pierce dominated outscoring their counterparts by a 36-to-24 margin, however, AC turned their 10 offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points, six more than the Ravens off their 10 offensive caroms.

A Lipinski layup in the restricted area gave the Ravens the early 6-0 advantage 3:15 into the contest. With 1:11 left in the first quarter, Lipinski swatted away a Shaughnessy lay-in attempt, the rock was picked up by Sulejmani and kicked out to Holmes on the left wing off the break and she drained the trifecta to put the hosts ahead by six, 11-5. Following two traded hoops, a Katherine Golden jumper brought it to a one-possession game 13-10 at the end of one.

Holmes jumpstarted the Ravens in the second quarter burying another trey as the shot clock expired, this time on the right-wing to open up a two-possession edge, 16-10. At the 6:07 mark, Lipinski forced a bad pass by Meghan Reen which resulted in a Sulejmani hoop and harm to advance the margin to eight 24-16. The Raven run of seven consecutive markers ended with junior forward Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) slashing from the top of the point into the right block for a deuce which opened up the 10-point Raven lead. Assumption cut into the Raven advantage and made it a one-possession game off a Shaughnessy fast-break layup. FPU held a three-point, 28-25 halftime score.

In the third, Lipinski hit a turn around jumper on the foul line to re-establish a five-point, 32-27 Raven edge. Emme Poulin brought it to a two-point game until Pierce put together seven in a row to move back ahead 41-32 with 3:13 left thanks to a junior guard Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) isolation take from the right-wing. Poulin banked in a three-ball to drop their deficit down to one, 43-42, but Cooney scooped a layup off the window and in off a Sulejmani feed at the buzzer as the Ravens were up 45-42 after three.

Pierce opened up another two-possession edge, 49-44 thanks to a Holmes theft to a fast-break bucket with 7:51 to go. A 9-2 Assumption spurt gave them their first lead of the game at the 4:08 mark as Capacchione made her fifth and final long-range attempt of the evening. Lipinski would tie the game twice over the next few possessions for Pierce with freebies and a layup, but Assumption answered with a huge lay-in before they iced the game with free throws.

Franklin Pierce will be back in action next Wednesday, December 4th on the road at no. 22 nationally-ranked Stonehill College (4-2, 1-1 NE10) with tip-off set 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the women's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensWBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/franklin_pierce_wbb/).