Coderre (21 points), Charette (19) bear load for Ravens

WESTWEGO, La. (December 29, 2012) – Freshman forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) went 7-for-12 from the floor on her way to a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double on Saturday afternoon, but the Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team was defeated, 70-60, by Young Harris on the first day of the Big Easy Challenge at Alario Center. Junior guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) led the Ravens with 21 points, while Young Harris junior forward Ladondra Johnson led all players in both points (23) and rebounds (13) with an 11-for-24 shooting effort.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 5-4 (3-3 Northeast-10), while Young Harris improves to 7-1 (1-1 Peach Belt). The Ravens will wrap-up play at the Big Easy Challenge against Dillard at 3 p.m. (EST) on Sunday.

While Coderre and Charette combined for 40 points, they also accounted for two-thirds of the team's offense on the afternoon, as no other Franklin Pierce player reached double digits. In all, the Ravens' starting five produced 88.3% of the offense in the contest, as the bench contributed just seven points. Junior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.), a 40.9% three-point shooter on the season, went 0-for-4 from behind the arc, typifying the shooting problems in the contest for Franklin Pierce. As a team, the Ravens went 5-for-23 (21.7%) from long range, despite clicking at 34.6% for the season.

Trailing 7-6 just over four minutes into the game, Young Harris went on its first run of the day, a 13-3 spurt over the next three minutes, to jump to a 19-10 lead on a layup by junior guard Lauren Smith with 11:03 to play in the first half. Franklin Pierce cut the lead back down to one on a pair of occasions later in the half, but would ultimately trail by five, 38-33, heading into the intermission.

The Ravens surged out of the locker room with an 11-5 run to take a 44-43 lead with 14:18 to play on a three-pointer by Coderre. It was the last of four consecutive buckets for her on the Franklin Pierce side of the ledger, as she contributed nine of the 11 points in the run.

However, on the ensuing possession, after a missed three-pointer by Smith, sophomore forward Peyton Robertson hauled down an offensive rebound to prolong the possession for the Mountain Lions. She went back up with the ball, was hit, but made the shot anyway and converted a free throw for a three-point play which gave Young Harris a 46-44 lead it would ever relinquish.

The Mountain Lions scored the next seven points after the Robertson three-point play, while the Ravens missed a trio of three-point shots. Freshman guard Tiffani Harrison capped the run with a three-pointer of her own to stretch the lead to 53-44 with 11 minutes to play.

Franklin Pierce cut the lead to four on three occasions, the last of which came on a layup by Charette with 4:52 to play to close the gap to 59-55. It would be as close as the Ravens would get though, as Young Harris hit its final five free throws in the last three minutes to come away with the 10-point victory.

Behind Charette for Franklin Pierce, Coderre nearly finished a double-double of her own, as she collected eight rebounds. Senior guard Tiffany Johnson (St. Albans, Vt.) added eight points, nine rebounds and eight steals, though she shot just 3-for-11 from the floor over 36 minutes. Junior guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) dished out a game-high seven assists, but also committed a game-high seven turnovers in the process.

After Ladondra Johnson for the Mountain Lions, no other player attempted even 10 shots, though Smith chipped in 11 points on 3-for-7 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the foul line. Sophomore forward Kaycee Cash snagged eight rebounds, while Robertson contributed nine points and four rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

After closing out the Big Easy Challenge on Sunday, the Ravens return home to host Saint Michael's in a Northeast-10 Conference contest on Sunday, Jan. 6. Tip time is 1:30 p.m. at the Fieldhouse in Rindge.

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' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).