Women's Basketball Falls at Bentley 90-72
Giroud logs double-double; White goes for team-high 18 points
WALTHAM, Mass. (December 4, 2010) -- The No. 7-nationally
ranked Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team struggled
on the defensive end Saturday in dropping a 90-72 decision at
Bentley in the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. The Ravens dropped
their first game of the season in falling to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in
the Northeast-10. Bentley improved to 5-1 and 5-0 in league play,
while snapping a four-game losing skid to the Ravens.
Three Ravens scored in double-figures, including junior center
Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.), who pumped in a
game-high 18 points while pulling down six rebounds. Classmate and
fellow front-court player, Marielle Giroud (Martigny,
Switzerland), logged a double-double (her third of the
season) with 15 points and 12 rebounds. She also handed out five
assists, while blocking a shot and swiping a steal.
Sophomore guard Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.) came
off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor,
while also collecting five rebounds and two steals.
Ten (10) Ravens saw action in the game with nine registering in
the scoring column, marking the second-straight game at least nine
players scored.
Five Bentley players registered in the double-digit scoring
column, including Elise Caira, who had a team-high 17 points to go
along with seven rebounds. Caira also had seven assists and three
steals. Lauren Battista had 15 points, while Courtney Finn and
Meghan Thomann chipped in with 12 apiece. Christiana Bakolas added
11 points to round out the double-figure scorers for Bentley.
The Falcons, who shot 49 percent (34-of-70) from the field for the
game, led by double-figures for most of the second half, including
at 74-55 with 10:20 remaining following a layup from Bakolas.
The Ravens, though, did not fold and tried to claw back into the
game by going on a 10-0 run to pull to within nine at 74-65 with
6:19 left. Giroud hit back-to-back layups to spark the run, while
White followed with a layup of her own moments later. Junior guard
Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) and White capped the
surge with two more lay-ins.
Bentley settled on the defensive end and put the clamps on the
Ravens' run, while scoring 15 of the game's next 17 points to pull
away for the victory.
Franklin Pierce shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor,
including knocking down six triples in the game. However, the
Ravens could not overcome 26 turnovers, which Bentley converted
into 28 points.
The game was close throughout the the opening minutes of the first
half, however, Bentley went on a 7-0 run near the midway point of
the half to open up a 29-16 advantage. Franklin Pierce tried to
claw back and did pull to within seven at 37-30 with 8:18 to go
following a pair of White foul shots. Again, Bentley responded and
out-scored Franklin Pierce, 17-4 over the next six minutes to take
a 54-34 lead. Thomann sparked the rally with a triple and Lauren
Massie capped it with a driving layup in transition. The Falcons
held a 56-38 lead at halftime.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday when the Ravens play
host to UMass-Lowell at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge.
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).