Women's Basketball Edges SNHU 58-57 for Eighth-Straight Victory
Lekia Cowen scores 13 points for third-straight double-figure scoring game
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 5, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce
University women's basketball team made clutch baskets down the
stretch and came up with big defensive stands to pull out a close
58-57 victory at Southern New Hampshire on Saturday at the SNHU
Fieldhouse in Manchester. The Ravens won their eighth-straight game
to improve to 18-5 overall and 14-3 in the Northeast-10, while the
Penmen dipped to 10-11 and 8-9 in league play.
Junior center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) and
classmate Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) each hit a
crucial basket inside the final 2:32 of the game to help the Ravens
pull out the win. Both were also the lone double-figure scorers for
the Ravens on the afternoon, as White notched a double-double with
21 points and 18 rebounds, while Cowen tossed in 13 points for her
third-straight double-figure scoring game.
The Ravens held a slim 54-53 with just under three minutes to go in
the game before White stepped up and collected an entry pass in the
post from Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland),
took a drop step and laid in a basket to put the Ravens up by
three.
Franklin Pierce forced the Penmen into a turnover on the next
possession and Cowen made SNHU pay for it on the other end as she
knocked down a jumper to make it a two possession game at 58-53
with 1:50 to go.
Giroud followed by grabbing a defensive board off a SNHU miss, but
the Ravens could not capitalize on the offensive end, thus allowing
the Penmen to stick around in the game. Southern New Hampshire did
capitalize and got baskets on back-to-back trips down the court
from Megan Smith and Julia Houghtaling to pull within one at 58-57
with :34 left.
Franklin Pierce missed an attempt with just three seconds left and
Southern New Hampshire grabbed the defensive board, but the Penmen
were not able to get the ball up the court for a potential winning
basket as time expired, thus sealing the win for the Ravens.
After shooting just 25 percent from the floor in the first half,
the Ravens regrouped to shoot a solid 46 percent from the field in
the second 20 minutes. Overall, the Ravens knocked down 21-of-60
shots for a 35 percent clip. Franklin Pierce did hold a 42-32
advantage on the boards, including getting nine rebounds from
Giroud.
SNHU shot 36 percent from the field, including getting 21 points
from Houghtaling and 10 from Smith.
Franklin Pierce opened the game with a 7-4 lead, thanks in part to
four points from sophomore guard Tiffany Johnson (St.
Albans, Vt.). SNHU, though, quieted the Ravens' nice start
with nine-consecutive points to grab a 13-7 advantage with 10:28
left in the half.
The lead would change hands six times the rest of the half,
including the final time with :22 to go when Libby Cullerot drained
a three-pointer to send SNHU into the locker room with a 26-25
edge.
The beginning of the second half was Franklin Pierce's turn to
retake the lead and the Ravens did so by out-scoring the Penmen,
17-6, over the first five minutes of the stanza to open up a 42-32
advantage. Cowen knocked down a pair of triples during the early
surge, while freshman guard Kate McDonald (Fall River,
Mass.) added a trey of her own. The Ravens would lead the
rest of the way in pulling off the come-from-behind victory.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday when the Ravens travel to
Colchester, Vt., to take on Saint Michael's at 5:30 p.m.
For more information on Franklin Pierce women's basketball, please
visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow
the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on
YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).