Jewel White logs a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Ravens remain alive in their quest for the program's fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament

Jewel White posted a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over UMass-Lowell.

RINDGE, N.H. (February 18, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team trailed by as many as 17 points, but rallied in the second half for an important 75-68 win over UMass-Lowell at The Fieldhouse in Rindge on Saturday. The Ravens won for the fourth time in their last five games to improve to 17-8 overall and 14-7 in the Northeast-10, while the River Hawks had their four-game winning streak snapped in falling to 11-15 and 9-12 in league play.

Franklin Pierce, which came into the game ranked seventh in the latest NCAA East Region Poll, got an outstanding double-double performance from senior forward Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) as she totaled 17 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. She nearly recorded a triple-double as she dished out seven assists, while also swiping two steals.

Classmate Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) also tallied a double-double with a team-high 18 points and 11 boards. Sophomore guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) came off the bench to knock down three three-pointers and net 16 points, while classmate Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) was the other double-figure scorer for the Ravens as she had 11 points.

Bianca Simmons pumped in a game-high 25 points for the River Hawks in a losing effort and Brianna Wilson came off the pine to go 4-of-8 from the floor and total 11 points with six rebounds. Simmons had a strong all-around game with eight assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Simmons strong first half play was a major reason in UMass-Lowell building a 36-25 lead at halftime. But as the second half began, it became apparent that Franklin Pierce was going to pick up the intensity to try and make it a game.

The Ravens opened the half on a 9-2 run, fueled by five points from McDonald, to pull within four at 38-34. UMass-Lowell shook off the early barrage and a three-point play by Whitney Wilson with 14:25 left pushed the River Hawks advantage back out to 45-36.

Franklin Pierce, though, countered and a McDonald three at the other end of the court stemmed the tide and brought the Ravens to within six. Martelle shaved the deficit to four on Franklin Pierce's next possession with a pair of free throws, and after Whitney Wilson hit a layup at the other end, Martelle bombed in a deep three to bring the Ravens to within one possession at 47-44 with 12:41 left.

Kate McDonald came up with some important three-pointers in the second half.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes but junior guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) came up big for the Ravens with 8:43 remaining as she knocked down a trey from the left wing to finally give her team its first lead of the game at 52-51.

Whitney Wilson converted a pair of foul shots moments later to put Lowell back up by a point, but McDonald rained in another triple at the other end to give Franklin Pierce a 55-53 advantage with a little under eight minutes left.

The teams continued to trade baskets over the remaining minutes of the game. Brianna Wilson laid in a bucket with 4:03 left to cap a wild flurry of of back-and-forth play to stake the River Hawks to a 61-60 lead.

White, though, responded for Franklin Pierce on its next two possessions as she got position in the low block and was able to convert a pair of layups to push the Ravens out to a 64-61 edge with 2:57 to go.

Franklin Pierce continued to hold a slim lead, but Danielle DePierro knotted the contest at 68-all with 1:17 left as she hit a three from the top of the key. 

It was all Ravens after that as they closed out the game on a 7-0 run to pull off the come-from-behind victory. The winning rally started with a basket from White, as she scored four of the final seven points to spark the surge. Martelle made a foul shot and Giroud capped the scoring with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.

Franklin Pierce owned a 51-39 advantage on the boards. Both teams struggled shooting the ball as both went at a 39 percent clip. The win avenged Franklin Pierce's 77-65 setback at Lowell back on Dec. 10.

Among those stretches where the teams were trading baskets was the stellar play of Giroud, who came up big in the second 20 minutes. The senior forward totaled 11 of her points in the frame, while also collecting 11 boards. She was 4-of-8 from the floor in the second half for a 50-percent rate.

The River Hawks came out gunning in the opening minutes of the game and scored seven of the first nine points. Simmons hit a jumper in the paint at the 12:37 mark to give Lowell its first double-digit lead at 15-5. UMass-Lowell pushed its lead out to as many as 17 with 4:17 left in the frame when Simmons rained in a three to make it 34-17.

The Ravens settled after that basket and strung together solid play the rest of the half, which helped catapult them in the second half. Franklin Pierce closed out the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points, including getting back-to-back threes from Johnson and Martelle, to pull to within 11, 36-25, at halftime.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens close out the regular season by playing host to Merrimack 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).