Marielle Giroud nabs 9 points and 15 rebounds in final collegiate game

WALTHAM, Mass. (March 10, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team's bid for an upset of top-seeded and No. 5 nationally ranked Bentley came up just short, 54-52, in the 2012 NCAA Division II East Regional Semifinals on Saturday night at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. The fourth-seeded Ravens concluded their season with a 20-10 record, while Bentley improved to 29-3 and advanced to the regional final on Monday night versus Holy Family at 7 p.m.

Franklin Pierce was aiming for its fourth trip to the regional final in the last five years and the Ravens appeared destined to reach it as senior center Jewel White (Worcester, Mass.) put in a pair of free throws with 1:37 left to make it 52-47.

Bentley called a quick 30-second timeout to regroup and the move paid off as Kelsey Roberson knocked down a three-pointer with 1:16 left to pull the Falcons to within two. The Falcons forced a steal on Franklin Pierce's next possession and Lauren Battista quickly turned it into two points with a layup at the other end to knot the score at 52-all.

White barely missed a layup for the Ravens at the other end and Bentley grabbed the rebound and brought the ball back up the court looking for the go ahead basket. White came up with a big block of a potential layup by Roberson with :12 left, but the Falcons retained possession as the ball went skipping out of bounds. Bentley ran an inbounds play underneath the basket and Jacqui Brugliera got a rebound off a miss and put back a shot with just :06 left to give her team a 54-52 lead.

Franklin Pierce ran a play at the other end of the court, but sophomore guard Brittany Martelle's (Brookfield, Conn.) three-point attempt at the buzzer came up just short, thus enabling Bentley to advance to the regional final for the second-straight year.

Senior guard Lekia Cowen (Hopedale, Mass.) paced Franklin Pierce with 15 points, while classmate Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) concluded her brilliant four-year career with nine points and 15 rebounds. White also concluded her brilliant career with nine points and seven boards.

Caleigh Crowell came off the bench to pump in 15 points for the Falcons, while Battista followed with 14.

Franklin Pierce managed to shoot just 37 percent from the field, but did a solid job on the defensive end by limiting Bentley to just a 29-percent clip (18-of-62). The Ravens also held a 41-36 rebounding advantage, but it was all for not as Bentley made several plays late in the clutch to win for the fourth time in as many tries versus Franklin Pierce this season.

The opening stages of the game went back-and-forth before Bentley was able to go on a 9-0 run to open up a 17-9 lead with 10:45 left until halftime. Roberson kick-started the surge with a three and Crowell capped it with four points, including two free throws and a layup.

The Ravens slowly chipped away at the deficit the rest of the half and pulled to within two at 30-28 at halftime. Cowen went 3-for-3 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including dropping in two treys, and scored eight points. Crowell paced Bentley's attack with 12 points.

Franklin Pierce scored six-straight points to open the second half and White's layup with 17:23 left staked the Ravens to a 34-30 lead. The Ravens would continue to hold the lead until the final minutes when Bentley mounted its rally to pull out the victory.

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/FranklinPierceRavens).