#19 Bentley Outlasts Franklin Pierce, 59-51
Ravens comeback to little too late, Falcons reach 20-wins for 22nd-straight year
RINDGE, N.H. (February 8, 2005) - Bentley College, ranked No. 19 in this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, rode a 12-point halftime lead in posting a 59-51 victory over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Junior Kate Kelly (Hull, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) was the lone Bentley player to reach double-figures with 16 points, on six-of-11 shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line, to go with five rebounds. Senior Chante Bonds (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) totaled eight points and seven boards, while freshman Erica Kirwan (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) came off the bench to score seven points, grab a game-high eight rebounds and dish a team-best four assists. Sophomore Lauren Moore (Bristol, N.H./Alvirne) added eight points and four boards for the Falcons.
Junior Heather Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) poured in a game-best 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the field, including 2-5 from three-point range. She also pulled down six rebounds (four offensive) to lead the Ravens. Sophomore Danielle D'Ettorre (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Mary's) totaled 15 points, on 6-8 shooting from the floor, five rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks, while classmate Mollie Stelmack (New Westminster, BC/New Westminster) chipped in with seven points, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Bentley limited Franklin Pierce to just 15 points in the opening 20-minutes on 7-26 (26.9-percent) shooting from the field, including 0-7 from three-point range. The Ravens rebounded with 59.1% (13-22) shooting in the second half, including 4-7 from long-distance, and committed just six turnovers compared to 12 in the first half.
An eight-minute drought for Franklin Pierce late in the first-half allowed Bentley to turn a 16-13 lead into 12-point (25-13) advantage before freshman Stephanie Bergeron (Pointe Claire, Quebec/Dawson College) hit a jumper with 15-seconds left in the stanza.
The Ravens closed their deficit to six points (31-25) after a pair of D'Ettorre free-throws less than four minutes into the second half, but Bentley regained a 13-point lead (42-29), after an 11-4 run, after an Erica Kirwan free-throw with 12:53 to play.
Franklin Pierce again closed the gap, this time getting within seven (44-37) after a Jacobs three with 10:43 to play, but the Falcons lead grew to a game-high 16 points (55-39) after a Shannon Kirwan (Melrose, Mass./Melrose) lay-up with 4:01 left to cap an 11-2 burst.
The Ravens closed the gap to nine on two occasions down the stretch after jumpers from Jacobs and Stelmack, but Kelley canned two free-throws to ice the game in the final minute before Jacobs closed out the scoring with a three-pointer with 13-seconds to play.
Franklin Pierce (12-10, 9-9 NE-10) returns to action on Thursday, when they travel to Green Mountain College for a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. Bentley (20-6, 14-4 NE-10) visits Southern New Hampshire for a Conference game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.