This Franklin Pierce University women's basketball recap is presented by Belletetes

RINDGE, N.H. (December 1, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team lost to Northeast-10 Conference opponent and no. 23 nationally-ranked Stonehill College 71-46 Saturday afternoon in The Fieldhouse. With the win, the Skyhawks move to 7-1, 4-1 NE10 while the Ravens fall to 1-6, 0-4 NE10.

The Crimson and Grey were led by freshman forward Izzy Lipinski (Farmington, Conn.) who tallied a team-high 10 points to along with five rebounds, one steal, and one block. Classmate Rylee Skinner (Leominster, Mass.) provided a spark off the bench for the Ravens in 18 minutes of play. She totaled five points, six boards (two offensive) and a game-high three steals. Sophomore forward Claudia Tucci (Trumbull, Conn.) added seven points, four caroms, and one steal while Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) played tight defense by coming up with three thefts and five boards.

Stonehill used a 15 point performance by senior forward Maty Diabate with six rebound and three assists. Sophomore guard Jennifer Worden tacked on 13 markers as well. The guests had a far superior paint presence than the Ravens outscoring them 38-to-24 in the low post. They also outshot the Ravens from the hardwood (47.5%-to-29.1%) however FPU held the advantage at the charity stripe (85.7%-to-70%).

The Ravens jumped ahead 3-2 just 30 seconds in when sophomore guard Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) drilled a catch and shoot three-pointer on the left wing off a Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) feed from the low post. Back-to-back layups by Stonehill gave them three-point advantage 6-3. On the ensuing Raven possession, freshman guard Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) played the pick and roll game and settled for a right elbow mid-range jumper to pull the Ravens within one, 6-5. The Skyhawks offense took over and exploded for 28 consecutive points to turn a one-point advantage to a double-digit lead, 34-5 midway through the second quarter. Lipinski ended the Stonehill spurt when she posted her defender up on the left block, drew a foul and hit the two freebies from the charity stripe.

Another Holmes three and two more Lipinski free throws brought the Raven deficit to 40-16 as Stonehill tacked on one more bucket to lead 42-16 at the intermission.

Although the Ravens were down by double-figures in the third, they played an even quarter totaling 14 points to the Skyhawks 14. At the 6:42 mark, Sulejmani showed toughness by driving through a congested right lane for an and1 attempt. Skinner also gobbled up her own missed lay-in and put if off the window and in while being hacked for the old-fashioned three-point play. Skinner cleaned up her own miss again a couple of possessions later for her second straight second-chance bucket. Franklin Pierce outscored the Skyhawks 16-15 in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens head out on the road Wednesday, December 5th for a 5:30 p.m. battle with NE10 opponent Merrimack College.

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/).