Franklin Pierce Holds Off Saint Michael’s, 53-47
Stelmack nets 18 points, grabs career-best eight rebounds for Ravens
RINDGE, N.H. (January 25, 2005) - Franklin Pierce held on for a 53-47 victory over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Sophomore Mollie Stelmack (New Westminster, British Columbia/New Westminster) led all scorers with 18 points on six-of-eight shooting from the field, including five-of-seven from three-point range. She also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds and added two assists. Junior Heather Jacobs (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) registered her sixth straight double-digit scoring effort, as she totaled 13 points to go along with seven rebounds and a game-high four assists. Sophomore Danielle D'Ettorre (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Mary's) added nine points, all in the second half, and posted a game-best nine rebounds for the Ravens.
Junior Holly Reeves (Arlington, Mass./Arlington Catholic) led Saint Michael's with 18 points on five-of-ten shooting, including four-of-eight from beyond the arc. Freshman Adrienne Carpenter (Princeton, Mass./Wachusett Regional) came off the bench to score 15 points and grab six rebounds, while sophomore Dani Rayner (Westminster, Vt./Bellows Falls Union) led the Purple Knights with eight rebounds and three assists.
Franklin Pierce built a nine-point lead in the first half by hitting 42.3-percent (11-26) of its shots from the field, including 6-14 (42.9%) from three-point range, and limiting Saint Michael's to 26.7% (8-30) shooting from the floor.
After Reeves opened the second-half with a three-pointer, Franklin Pierce got a conventional three-point play from Jacobs and a lay-up from D'Ettorre to match its largest lead of the game (33-22) just over three-minutes into the second half.
Saint Michael's posted a 12-2 run over a span of nine minutes to crawl within a point (35-34) after a jumper from freshman Adrienne Carpenter (Princeton, Mass./Wachusett Regional) with 7:20 to play. Stelmack buried a three-pointer to break a six-minute Raven scoring draught, but another Carpenter jumper pulled the Purple Knights within a pair at the 6:17-mark.
Franklin Pierce regained control with an 8-0 spurt to open a ten-point (46-36) edge after a D'Ettorre three with 3:04 to play. The Ravens hit 7-8 free-throw attempts over the final 1:07 and were never seriously threatened from then on.
Franklin Pierce (10-7, 7-6 NE-10) returns to action on Thursday when it visits Saint Anselm College at 5:30 p.m. Saint Michael's (4-14, 1-13 NE-10) hosts Southern New Hampshire University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.