Despite setback, Franklin Pierce will advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament as an at-large qualifier

BOXSCORE

WALTHAM, Mass. (March 6, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team's journey for a third-consecutive Northeast-10 Conference championship came up just short on Sunday with a tough 85-71 setback to Bentley in the league title game at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. The second-seeded Ravens fell to 24-7, while the top-seeded Falcons improved to 25-4.

Despite the loss, Franklin Pierce's 2010-11 season did not come to an end as the Ravens will earn an at-large bid to the 2011 NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional, which will be held next weekend at a site to be determined. Franklin Pierce will hear official word of its tournament-fate on Sunday evening with the Division II Selection Show at 9:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com(.) Fans wishing to find out more information on Franklin Pierce's trip to the national tournament should continue checking athletics.franklinpierce.edu throughout the week to find out details as they become available.

Even though the Ravens came up just short in their bid for a conference crown, it should be noted just how impressive of an accomplishment it was for Franklin Pierce to reach the NE-10 finals on Sunday. Following last season's magical run to the NCAA Division II Final Four, Franklin Pierce lost the services of arguably the greatest women's basketball player in Division II history with the graduation of Johannah Leedham. Just prior to this season, Franklin Pierce also learned it would also be without the services of senior co-captains Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, R.I.) and Tori Ahrens (East Greenwich, R.I.), as suffered preseason injuries and were not able to return. With four true freshmen playing extensive minutes all season, while learning the collegiate game, Franklin Pierce relied heavily on juniors Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) and Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) to lead the way. Both players did and the Ravens turned in an outstanding regular season which saw them win 20-plus games, finish 18-4 in conference play and lock up the league's No. 2 seed in the post-season tournament. Along the way, both White and Giroud were honored as the conference's player and defensive player of the year, respectively.

White led Franklin Pierce on this day with a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) came off the bench to chip in with 17 points, while Giroud played all 40 minutes and totaled six points and nine rebounds.

Jacqui Brugliera led Bentley with 21 points, while Lauren Battista added 19. Kim Brennan also added 17 points to spark Bentley's run to the title.

For their efforts, Brugliera, Battista, Brennan, White and Giroud were named to the NE-10 All-Championship Team. Battista also earned the tournament's most valuable player award.

Bentley was able to get several open looks at the basket in the low post in the first half and converted those opportunities into points. Because of its strong post play, Bentley shot 46 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The Falcons were able to get those looks as White picked up two early fouls and had to spend more time than anticipated on the bench.

The Falcons opened up their largest lead of the half at 37-23 with 3:52 remaining following a pair of free throws from Katherine Goodwin. Before Bentley could open it up further, Franklin Pierce did mount a mini 8-4 run to pull within 10 at 41-31 at halftime. Junior guard Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) sparked the rally with four-straight points, while White and sophomore guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) added two points apiece. Cowen and Saab each had seven points during the opening half to lead Franklin Pierce, while Brugliera and Battista paced Bentley's offense with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

The second half saw Bentley go back up by 12 early in the stanza, but the Ravens were able to string together a couple of baskets to pull within seven at 47-40 following a three-pointer from freshman guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) with 17:11 left.

The game would settle into a pattern of Franklin Pierce staying within 7-to-9 points, but not getting any closer. The game did start to change a bit as the Ravens scored four-straight points during the middle stages of half, including getting a layup from Giroud, to get within five at 61-56 with 8:15 remaining.

However, that was as close as Franklin Pierce would get as Bentley countered with six-consecutive points to open up an 11-point lead at 67-56. The Falcons would finish out the game and earn the win.

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).