Ravens senior guard signs with Caboolture Suns of Queensland Basketball League  

RINDGE, N.H. (May 8, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University senior guard Vanessa Power (Mildura, Australia) has signed a professional contract to play with the Caboolture Suns of the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) in her native Australia.

Power will join the Suns after the first of June following graduation at Franklin Pierce where she was a four-year letterwinner and important reserve for the two-time defending NCAA Division II East Region Champions. The Suns, who are off a 1-1 start to their 2009 season, compete in the Queensland Basketball League which is one level below Australia's National League - the WNBL. The QBL features 14 teams from cities including Brisbane and Cairns.

"I can't wait to go home and start playing again," said Power. "Hopefully I will fit right into the team and fill the role of shooting guard. I'm really excited to be playing at a higher level, but I really owe this opportunity to Franklin Pierce, Coach (Mark) Swasey and most of all, my teammates."

Power, a 5-foot, 11-inch shooting guard, is expected to provide a scoring touch for Caboolture after a senior season at Franklin Pierce in which she averaged 5.8 points while shooting 41.4-percent (67-for-162) from the field, including 38.5% (47-122) from three-point range in 13.8 minutes per game off the bench over 33 contests (one start). She finished the season ranked seventh among Northeast-10 Conference leaders for three-point field goal percentage.

Power came off the bench to average 8.7 points on 50-percent (10-for-20) shooting from the field, including 6-for-15 (40%) from beyond the arc, in 15 minutes per game over the Ravens three victories in the NCAA East Regional in Philadelphia. She put up ten points off the bench in each of the Ravens first two NCAA regional wins. Power scored a season-high 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, including 6-for-9 from three-point land, against Grand Canyon University on December 30.

Power appeared in 107 games over her four year career at Franklin Pierce and totaled 648 career points while shooting 39.5-percent (208-527) from the field, including 38.1% (158-415) from three-point range. Her 158 career three-point field goals are the third-highest total in the Ravens NE-10 era (since 2000) and good for 19^th in NE-10 history. She scored a career-best 28 points to lead Franklin Pierce to an overtime win against Saint Michael's College on February 20, 2007.

Franklin Pierce (29-6, 18-4 NE-10), ranked No. 2 in the final USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Division II poll, recently completed its best year in program history. The Ravens set a program record with 29 wins, capturing both the NE-10 regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history, while also winning the East region for the second-straight season. They advanced all the way to the National Championship game at the Elite Eight before falling to Minnesota State University-Mankato 103-94 in the highest scoring women's basketball championship game in NCAA Division II history.