MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 23, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team opened up Northeast-10 Conference play this afternoon on the road in Manchester. The Ravens hung in with undefeated opponent and no. 8/9 nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College, who received 23 points from senior forward Shannon Ryan, en route to the 75-58 win. 

The Ravens fall to 3-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. The Hawks improve to 4-0 with a 2-0 mark in the NE10.

Pierce kept it close early trailing only by one after one quarter. Team captain Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) scored 10 of her 17 points in the introductory period as the Ravens trailed 19-18. 

The second quarter was a struggle for both sides but the Ravens could only muster nine points on 4-of-14 (28.6%) shooting. The Hawks didn't fare much better shooting 6-of-16 (37.5%), but they'd take a 33-27 lead. 

The Ravens stepped it up coming out of the halftime break. They missed only two shots in the third quarter with junior forward Freya Cooney (Woodbridge, England) shooting a perfect 4-for-4. The Ravens also got support from sophomore forward Izzy Lipinski (Farmington, Conn.) who dished out five assists in the quarter and guard Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) chipped in four points.  

Despite the even quarter of play, Saint Anselm held the lead at 54-48. In need of a big fourth-quarter effort the Ravens went cold again shooting 27.3% in the final period. Sulejmani did a little bit of everything to try to give her team a spark shooting 2-of-3 from the floor while securing three boards. It wasn't enough as the Hawks ran away with it late outscoring the Ravens 21-10 to close out the game.  

The Ravens had four starters crack double-digit point totals. Holmes, who did not leave the floor, shot 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the floor including 3-of-6 (50.0%) from deep to go along with four boards, two steals, and a block. Fellow guard Sulejmani was also productive shooting 5-for-11 (45.5%) for the game totaling a season-high 13 markers while adding five rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 40 minutes of play.

For the home-side, it was Ryan who led the way scoring 23 points on 11-of-20 (55.0%) shooting. She also corralled 12 rebounds for the double-double and picked up three blocks. Junior Peyton Steinman scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to help ice the showdown for the Hawks.  

The Ravens wrap up the month of November at home on Tuesday the 26th and will look to secure their first win in league play this season. They welcome Assumption College into the Fieldhouse with tipoff set for 5:30 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/).