MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 17, 2018) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball freshman guard Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) produced a career-high 19 points during a 71-61 loss to Northeast-10 Conference opponent Southern New Hampshire University Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse. With the win, the Penmen move to 16-10, 12-8 NE10 and loss was the Ravens 19th in league play.

Holmes converted 70.0% (7-of-10) of her shot attempts while draining 50.0% (3-of-6) from downtown to go along with three boards. Teammate Mya Mosley (Worcester, Mass.) poured in a game-high 20 markers to go along with four assists, three boards, and one block. Senior guard Jemma Thacker (Nairne, South Australia) came alive in the fourth quarter as she single handily brought the deficit down to single figures by knocking down a couple of treys. Thacker finished the game with 13 points while draining three attempts from deep.

For the Penmen, four players tallied double-digit scoring as Jennifer Shelp and Molly Terry dropped 12 points apiece. SNHU outrebounded the Ravens by a 48-28 margin while outscoring the Birds in the paint (38-to-20) and on second chances (16-to-4).

Holmes began the duel by connecting on a right-wing three-ball via a Hannah Martin (Woodland Hills, Calif.) feed. On the next trip down the court, Shelp opened the scoring for the Penmen by banking home a reverse layup. SNHU took the lead and upped their edge to 8-5 when Kylie Lorenzen, down on the low left block pushed home an attempt. Homes followed with a drive to the rack for an uncontested two. Seven straight by the hosts increased their edge to 15-7 until Holmes hit a right-wing trey a few feet behind the line to bring the deficit to two possessions, 15-10. However, Terry answered back with a left corner catch and shoot three-pointer of her own to reestablish the eight point advantage. 

Following a media timeout, FPU notched seven in a row as Holmes continued her torrid first quarter by draining her third attempt from downtown, Mosley, with the shot clock winding down, buried a mid-range jumper on the right elbow and then pushed a lay-in off the glass to cut the deficit to one, 18-17. Over the final 1:22 of the period, both squads traded layups as the Ravens trailed 20-19.

Holmes was a perfect 4-of-4 and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc over the first 10 minutes for a game-high 11 points. As a team, the Ravens shot 53.3% (8-of-15) in the first quarter.

Lorenzen floated home an attempt to increase the Penmen lead to 22-19. Back-to-back threes from Thacker and Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) moved Pierce back ahead 25-22 as the hosts looked to cool the Ravens momentum with a 30-second timeout. After the timeout, Lorenzen drove hard through traffic and got her attempt to fall while being fouled. She completed the old-fashioned three-point play to knot the score at 25 all. Lorenzen's hoop and harm was the beginning of an 18-0 run for the Penmen as Shelp amassed six consecutive markers during the binge to make the score 40-25 with 3:13 to go before halftime.

Thacker stopped the Penmen run by burying a jump shot to cut the Raven deficit to 40-27. A Catherine Stinson and1 gave SNHU their largest lead of the first half at 43-27, but Holmes hit two freebies to cap the first half scoring as the Ravens trailed 43-29 at the intermission.   

At the 6:50 mark in the third quarter, a Holmes baseline jumper brought the Raven deficit to 12, 45-33. Southern New Hampshire kept matching the Ravens point-for-point until a Brianna Camara wide open three-ball from the left corner increased the edge to 17, 54-37. In the fourth, Camara built the Penmen lead to a game-best 21 points just a minute into the quarter, but the Ravens brought the deficit to eight, 67-59 with 2:23 to go after a Thacker drained two threes, one from each wing which was part of a 10-2 late surge by the Crimson and Grey. SNHU took a timeout and drew up a play for Lorenzen who used a hop step move to bring the hosts advantage back to double-figures. Thacker had a chance to cut the Raven deficit to two possessions, but her three-point attempt clanked off the rim.

The Ravens end their 2017-18 season on Tuesday evening with a Senior Night contest against NE10 opponent and no. 14 nationally-ranked Bentley University with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens ), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store). You can also follow the women's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensWBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/franklin_pierce_wbb/)