Women's Basketball Downs Bentley, 90-87, in Overtime Thriller
Marielle Giroud goes off for career-high 35 points; White has 26 points and 20 rebounds
RINDGE, N.H. (February 19, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team notched its biggest win of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Ravens downed No. 17-nationally ranked Bentley, 90-87 in overtime, in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens won their second-straight game to improve to 21-6 overall and 17-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Falcons dipped to 21-4 and 18-3 in league play.
The win avenged Franklin Pierce's 90-72 setback at Bentley back on Dec. 4 in Waltham, Mass. The victory also kept alive Franklin Pierce's hopes of capturing at least a share of the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship. The Ravens will close out the regular season on Wednesday night when they travel to face UMass-Lowell at 5:30 p.m. A win over the River Hawks, coupled with a Bentley loss at Stonehill on the same night, and Franklin Pierce would share the conference's regular season crown with the Falcons.
Juniors Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) and Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) turned in amazing performances in the win, as both tallied double-doubles. Giroud pumped in a career-high 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the floor (3-for-4 from three-point range) and pulled down 13 rebounds, while also handing out a game-high tying seven assists. White followed with 26 points (9-of-15 shooting) and ripped down a game-high 20 boards. She also blocked three shots, swiped a steal and handed out a pair of assists.
Sophomore guard Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) provided a huge spark off the bench with nine points, including going 2-for-3 from behind the arc, while also totaling six rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) added seven points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal in the winning effort.
Jacqui Brugliera paced Bentley with 32 points and 13 rebounds, while Lauren Battista added 17 points and eight boards.
Franklin Pierce shot a solid 47 percent (32-of-68) from the floor, while holding Bentley to 39.7 percent shooting (31-of-78). The Ravens also held a 48-44 advantage on the boards.
The five-minute overtime was a microcosm of regulation with each team trading basket for basket. Courtney Finn knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:30 left in the stanza to put Bentley up 85-84. Franklin Pierce countered on its next trip down the court as White laid in a basket while being fouled, and followed by converting the foul shot for the three-point play to put the Ravens up 87-84 with 1:17 left.
Brugliera answered for Bentley with a rebound and putback at the other end of the floor to knot the game at 87. She had a chance to put the Falcons back on top just seconds later following a Franklin Pierce turnover, but her layup came up just short and White grabbed the rebound while being fouled. White went to the foul line and made both free throws to give the Ravens a slim 89-87 edge with :20 to go.
Bentley could not convert at the other end and Giroud was fouled going up for a rebound, which sent her to the foul line with a chance to ice the game with only :08 left. She made the first of her two free throws, but missed the second one as Bentley raced down court looking to knock down a triple to send the game to a second overtime. Battista had an open look from the top of the key as time expired, but her attempt clanged off the back of the iron, thus giving the Ravens a satisfying victory over the first-place Falcons.
The Ravens owned an 8-4 advantage in points in the paint in the overtime period, while also shooting 57 percent from the floor and limiting Bentley to only 18 percent shooting.
Franklin Pierce got it to overtime following a frantic comeback with a little under 10 minutes left in the second half. The Ravens trailed 63-53 with 9:44 remaining, but they began to mount a rally as they scored 11 of the next 15 points to pull within 67-64 with 6:06 to go. Franklin Pierce's deficit would turn into a lead moments later when Saab got wide open in the right corner and bombed in a three-pointer while being fouled on the play. She drained the free throw to complete the four-point play and the Ravens held a 68-67 lead with just 5:33 left.
Bentley could not buy a bucket during that time, and Franklin Pierce used that to its advantage as Giroud and White combined for eight-straight points to open up a 76-67 lead with only 2:37 to go.
The Falcons called a timeout to stem the tide and it worked as they scored on three-straight possessions to pull within two at 76-74 with 1:07 left.
Giroud hit 1-of-2 free throws moments later to give the Ravens a 77-74 lead, but Brugliera cut Franklin Pierce's advantage to one with a layup at the other end with just :29 to go.
McDonald then hit 1-of-2 free throws for Ravens to make it 78-76, but again, Bentley had an answer as Brugliera laid in another basket with just :07 left to send the game into overtime.
The first half was just as tightly contested. The Ravens did take a 25-11 lead nine minutes into the game following a trey from freshman guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.), but from that point on, Bentley slowly chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within five at 41-36 at halftime.
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).