Holmes’ 22, Carter’s Career-High Guide Ravens to Fifth Win, 79-53 over Nyack

RINDGE, N.H. (December 18, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball junior Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) scored a game-high 22 points during a 79-53 win against non-conference opponent Nyack College Wednesday evening. The win pushes the Ravens to 5-5 while the Warriors slide to 3-5 on the year.

Holmes tallied 20 of her 22 points in the second half of the game. She was 8-of-14 (57.1%) shooting with three triples and four rebounds. It was her fourth game over 20 points this year as she led FPU to their fifth victory, a total they haven't surpassed since 2015-16 (14-13).

Sophomore forward Emma Carter (Bristol, Vt.) scored a career-high 18 points with 16 coming in the first half. She produced a 72.7% (8-of-11) shooting performance to go along with five boards. Sophomore guard Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) tacked on 13 points and a game-high six assists off 5-of-10 (50%) shots. Junior guard Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) came off the bench to score eight points, hand out three assists, snag two boards and total two steals.

Jocelin Wright had 10 points and six rebounds, all of the offensive variety in the setback. Nyack took 23 more shots than the Ravens in the contest but cleared only 27% efficiency compared to the Ravens 56.9%. FPU also had more free throw conversions (16-to-10) and more points in the paint (40-to-30).  

Trailing 6-3 following two Jocelin Wright free throws, the Ravens poured in an 11-0 run using threes from Sulejmani and team captain Hannah Everidge (Baldwinville, Mass.) with an Akins hoop and harm to move ahead 14-6 with 1:21 left in the period. With 30 seconds remaining, Sarah Wilson banged home a trifecta from the top of the point to stop the Raven stretch of points. Sulejmani then took the ball through the left side for a deuce making it a 16-9 first-quarter lead for the Ravens.

Nyack scored four points in the opening 40 seconds of the second. Yamalis Villegas split a pair of free throws and she collected her miss. Wright promptly slashed through traffic for the and1 with free throw making it a one-possession game, 16-13. The Ravens immediately responded with seven straight markers, five from Carter, with three coming off an old fashioned three-point play and a Holmes lay-in to lead by 10, 23-13.

The game of runs continued as the Warriors scored six consecutive to make it a 23-19 margin. Junior forward Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) reestablished the two-possession advantage for the Ravens with two from the line midway through the period. Another Carter bucket increased the Raven lead back to six, 27-21, but Nyack pulled within one, 29-28 via two Villegas freebies. Carter then was awarded a free throw as she was fouled off a jumper. Her three-point play increased the score to 32-28 at the midway point.

Pierce shot 48% (12-of-25) from the floor in the first half and outrebounded Nyack 19-to-14. Carter was 7-of-10 (70%) from the hardwood.

Nyack trailed by three, 36-33 in the third quarter, but Holmes knocked down a three-ball to regain the two-possession lead, 39-33. Holmes then scored six of the next Ravens eight points to give them their second 10 point lead in the match, 47-37. Nyack dropped the deficit down to seven following a three-point conversion. Holmes capped off her 13 point quarter with a trey at the buzzer from Sulejmani to open up the Ravens largest lead of the game, 55-44.

FPU tallied seven consecutive points with a Holmes trifecta and layup for five markers to begin the quarter to move in front by 18, 62-44. FPU would go on to outscore Nyack 24-to-9 in the fourth quarter. Their biggest lead in the game was 26 following a Tamisha Myers (Stafford, Conn.) layup with 26 seconds left.

The Ravens wrap up their non-conference slate of games on Thursday, January 2, 2020, on the road at the University of Bridgeport (3-9, 1-0 ECC) with tip-off set for 2:00 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/).