Ravens will host Bentley on Friday night at 7 p.m. in The Fieldhouse

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (March 2, 2010) – The second-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team opened post-season play Tuesday night with a 79-68 win over New Haven at The Fieldhouse in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Northeast-10 Tournament. The Ravens, who won the league’s regular season championship to claim the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the tournament, improved to 26-1, while the eighth-seeded Chargers concluded their season with a 14-15 mark.

Franklin Pierce now moves on to the semifinals of the NE-10 Tournament, as it will play host to fourth-seeded Bentley on Friday night at 7 p.m. in The Fieldhouse. The Falcons downed Merrimack, 88-77, on Tuesday night in Waltham, Mass. Tickets for the game can be purchased at the door, including $7 for adults, $4 for children and seniors and $1 for college students with an ID.

Senior standout and 2010 Northeast-10 Player of the Year, Johannah Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England), tossed in 29 points and added eight rebounds, seven assists, seven steals and one block. She currently stands at 2,857 points for her career and now needs just 29 more points to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division II women’s basketball history.

Three other Ravens scored in double-figures, including 15 points from junior guard Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.), 13 points from sophomore center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.)
and 10 points from freshman guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.).

Sophomore forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, while White added eight boards. Senior guard Kirsten Doldoorian (Brimfield, Mass.) came off the bench to chip in five points and six rebounds.

Dominique Stellmacher paced New Haven with 20 points.

The Ravens shot a solid 46 percent (26-of-56) from the field and out-rebounded the Chargers by a count of 47-38.

Leedham scored the game’s first eight points on the way to helping Franklin Pierce build a 20-2 advantage with 10:06 left in the first half.

New Haven slowly chipped away at the large deficit and outscored Franklin Pierce, 23-11 the rest of the half to pull within 31-25 at halftime.

Leedham led all scorers with 12 points in the first 20 minutes, while Gaudet followed with six.

The Chargers kept the game close in the opening minutes of the second half and still trailed by just six at 41-35 with only 15:11 remaining in the game.

However, the Ravens went to work on the offensive end and built its lead up to 58-42 six minutes later. Johnson started the surge with a three-pointer and later aided the rally with another triple. Leedham and Doldoorian capped the run with back-to-back layups.

Franklin Pierce would not let New Haven get closer than nine points the rest of the way as it cruised on for the win and a berth in Friday’s semifinals.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)