Women's Basketball Overcomes Huge Deficit to Pull Out 69-60 OT Win over Pace

Brooke Long tosses in 17 points in the second half

RINDGE, N.H. (January 26, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team overcame a 24-point second half deficit on Saturday to pick up a thrilling 69-60 overtime win over Pace at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens won for the seventh time in the last eight games to improve to 12-5 overall and 9-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Setters dipped to 9-8 and 7-6 in league play.

Senior guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) tossed in a game-high 23 points, including nine of Franklin Pierce's 11 points in overtime to lift them to victory.

Johnson nearly ended the game in regulation, but her potential game-winning layup at the buzzer skipped off the front of the rim. The miss failed to rattle her and she calmly knocked down a three-pointer a minute into the extra frame to stake the Ravens to a 61-60 lead, which they would not relinquish.

She kept Franklin Pierce's next possession alive with an offensive rebound while drawing a foul, and then sinking both free throws. Johnson clinched it for the Ravens as she dropped in a 10-foot jumper just inside of two minutes and then converted two foul shots with :49 left to cap the scoring.

She was 9-of-15 from the field and narrowly missed a double-double as she collected a game-high nine rebounds. Johnson also chipped in with a trio of assists and swiped a steal.

Junior guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.), who had Franklin Pierce's other two points in overtime on a pair of free throws, helped kick the Ravens' offensive attack into high gear with a career-high 10 assists, including seven in the second half alone as the Ravens shot 61 percent (14-of-23) from the field, including a 67 percent clip from beyond the arc (8-of-12) to mount the large comeback.

The Ravens found themselves trailing, 43-19, 90 seconds into the second stanza after Allison Cleary knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing.

Senior guard Brooke Long (Richmond, Va.), who had an outstanding second half with 17 points, knocked down the first of her five triples at the other end of the court, and the basket served as a spark to the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce rallied and reeled off 11-straight points moments later to pull within single digits at 44-35, thanks in large part to a three from McDonald and back-to-back treys from Long. 

The Ravens slowly kept chipping away and Long sandwiched two more threes around a trey from junior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) to pull Franklin Pierce to within two at 50-48 with 6:41 to go.

Freshman forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) tossed in layups on back-to-back possessions with 2:48 remaining, including converting a three-point play with a free throw on the second layup to put the Ravens on top 55-52.

Margo Hackett stemmed the tide for Pace with a tying three with 1:47 remaining, but junior guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) countered with a go-ahead three for the Ravens with just :38 remaining.

Franklin Pierce held strong defensively at the other end, but Jessica Scannell rained in a tying triple with a hand in her face to knot it at 58-all, thus sending it to overtime.

Charette scored all seven of her points in the second half, while Coderre netted five and came up with two big steals on the defensive end as the Ravens were making their comeback. In addition to the hot shooting, Franklin Pierce forced Pace into 11 second half turnovers.

The comeback was even more impressive considering the Setters dictated the entire first half, shooting 50 percent from the floor (14-of-28), and building a comfortable 38-17 lead at halftime. A 20-10 edge in points in the paint helped pad Pace's high shooting percentage.

Scannell and Hackett each tossed in 10 points in the opening frame to lead the Setters. Pace also owned the glass as it held a 24-14 rebounding advantage, thanks in large part to six boards apiece from Brittany Shields and Jeane Drury.

Overall, Scannell netted a team-high 15 points, while Hackett ended with 13.

Franklin Pierce shot just 23 percent from the floor in the half (7-of-31) and were held scoreless the final 5:12. Johnson was one of just four Ravens to score in the half as she pumped in 10 points.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to American International at 5:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. 

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). Fans wishing to purchase women's basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)