RINDGE, N.H. (November 16, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team took the lead in the second quarter and kept it to take a 73-56 win over the Wilmington (Del.) University Wildcats. Junior guard Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) scored a game-high 21 points leading all players. With the win, the Ravens move to 3-1 overall and capture their second victory of the week. The loss keeps the Wildcats winless at 0-4.

Holmes manufactured her third straight game of 20+ points. She shot only 33.3% from the floor and was 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the line. She also secured six rebounds, with one assist and one steal. Sophomore forward Emma Carter (Bristol, Vt.) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, a career-high eight rebounds, a personal-best five assists, and a single-game high four steals. She was a game-high +30 on the court for the Ravens. Sophomore guard Rylee Skinner (Leominster, Mass.) poured in a personal-best 13 points with a career-high seven rebounds – four offensive. Sophomore Izzy Lipinski (Farmington, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit point performance with 10 of her own to go with six rebounds – four offensive and three steals.

For Wilmington, Sabreen Muslim came off the bench and dropped 14 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Jadyn Whitsitt tallied 10 points and four rebounds.

Pierce outrebounded their opponents 45-to-35 and doubled them up on the offensive end 20-to-10 (16 second-chance points). Wilmington also turned the ball over a whopping 26 times resulting in 31 points for FPU. The Ravens also got out on the break at will outscoring the Wildcats 12-to-0.

The first quarter started tough for the Ravens, as the Wildcats led by two with a score of 16-14. Skinner got six of the fourteen points in the quarter. A 12-3 scoring run capped off by a junior Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) scoop off the glass pushed the Ravens ahead 26-22. Two Muslim freebies at the 6:27 mark made it a one-possession game. A Wilmington fast-break layup with 3:23 to go tied the score 28-28. With the game deadlocked at 30-30, FPU closed the half on a 9-1 mini spurt as Holmes cashed in a runner as the horn sounded giving Pierce a 39-31 halftime lead.

Holmes was on a mission in the second quarter not coming off the court and manufacturing 12 of her 21 points in the period while going 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the hardwood and 1-of-2 (50.0%) from deep.

Sophomore guard Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) kicked off the third quarter giving the Ravens their first double-digit lead of the game 41-31. Two Lipinski free throws with 2:44 left in the period put the Pierce margin at 13, 54-41. A Muslim lay-in with 59 seconds left dropped the margin down to nine, 54-45.

A 16-2 fourth-quarter run pushed the Ravens ahead by 23, 70-47 using triples by Sulejmani, Carter, and Holmes coupled with a Skinner steal to Demi Akins (Cambridge, Mass.) deuce iced the game for the home team.

The Ravens will hit the court once again when they visit no. 10 nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College to start their Northeast-10 Conference season on Saturday, November 23rd at 1:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://www.fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the women's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensWBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/franklin_pierce_wbb/).