Women's Basketball Overcomes Halftime Deficit to Pick Up Ninth Straight Win with 80-71 Triumph Over Saint Michael's
Jewel White logs 21 points and 10 rebounds; Marielle Giroud tallies 17 points and a career-high 11 assists
COLCHESTER, Vt. (February 8, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to run its win streak to nine-straight games with an 80-71 victory over Saint Michael's on Tuesday night at Ross Sports Center in Colchester, Vt. The Ravens ran their record to 19-5 overall and 15-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Purple Knights fell to 10-10 and 8-9 in league play.
A trio of Ravens scored in double-figures, including reigning NE-10 Player of the Week Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.), as the junior center logged yet another double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She shot an impressive 8-of-10 from the floor.
Junior forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) also tallied a double-double as she tossed in 17 points, while handing out a career-high 11 assists. She also grabbed six rebounds and swiped five steals.
Classmate Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) also netted double-figures as she chipped in with 12 points, while also totaling four rebounds and three steals.
Franklin Pierce stormed out of the gates and scored 17 of the first 23 points in a little more than nine minutes into the game. White scored six points during the surge, while Giroud and Cowen added four points apiece. Freshman guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) capped the early surge with a three-pointer from the wing.
Freshman guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) followed with a triple of her own moments later to stake the Ravens to a 20-10 advantage. However, Saint Michael's turned the tide over the remaining 8:16 of the half and outscored Franklin Pierce, 23-5, to take a 33-25 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Logan Pintka, who scored a team-best 14 points for the Purple Knights, sparked the late first half rally with a driving layup.
Pintka hit a three in the opening minutes of the second half to push Saint Michael's advantage out to nine at 38-29. But, it was now Franklin Pierce's turn to go on a surge, and the Ravens did so by scoring 17-consecutive points to take a 46-38 lead with 14:17 to go in the game. Freshman guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) aided the rally with a pair of trey's.
The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before the Ravens started putting another run together to pull away from Saint Michael's, including another triple by Coderre to put Franklin Pierce up 59-46 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.
That triple put the Ravens in control as they would lead by double-figures for nearly the remainder of the game in earning the victory.
Coderre and McDonald each had nine points as Franklin Pierce shot 49 percent (27-of-55) from the floor for the game. The Ravens knocked down 10-of-17 three-point attempts for a blistering 59 percent clip.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Saint Anselm at 1:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The game, along with the men's game versus St. A's at 3:30 p.m., will be Franklin Pierce's Breast Cancer Awareness Day as the Athletics Department will honor breast cancer survivors and employees of the Norris Cotton Cancer in Keene. There will be auctions and raffle tickets sold for various Pierce Pride items.
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).