Tiffany Johnson and Kate McDonald make crucial free throws late to seal win

BOXSCORE

MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 28, 2010) -- The No. 10-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team won its sixth game in a row on Sunday as the Ravens downed Saint Anselm, 68-58, at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester, N.H. The Ravens improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northeast-10, while the Hawks dipped to 3-3 and 1-2 in league play.

Three Ravens scored in double-figures on the afternoon, including junior center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.), who had 17 points and six rebounds. She also added two blocks, two assists and a steal. Sophomore guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) had 14 points and five boards, while junior forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Franklin Pierce shot 46-percent (6-of-13) from three-point range, including a 2-for-3 effort from Johnson.

Epiphany Smith led Saint Anselm with 14 points, while Megan Howard came off the bench to chip in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Franklin Pierce quickly took control of the contest as it scored the game's first seven points and never looked back in grabbing the victory. Johnson made a pair of free throws and knocked down a triple during the initial run to spark the Ravens.

Saint Anselm hit back-to-back layups to close it to 7-4, but that was as close as the Hawks would get it the rest of the way.

The Ravens responded with an 11-4 run over a six-minute span to take an 18-7 advantage with 7:13 remaining in the half. Franklin Pierce would not let its lead slip below double-digits the rest of the half as the Ravens built a 32-14 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Johnson had 12 points during the opening 20 minutes, while White netted 10.

Franklin Pierce pushed its lead out to 20 at 44-24 with 14:35 remaining in the game following a layup from Giroud. Again, the Ravens kept their lead in double-digits for the most part, but Saint Anselm was able to string together a couple of baskets and ultimately pull within six at 62-56 with 1:15 remaining. However, Johnson and freshman guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) made sure the brief run never mounted to anything more as they both made several free throws in the final 60 seconds to close out the victory.

The Ravens return to action Wednesday night when they play host to Merrimack at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse.

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).