Women's Basketball Opens Second Half of Season with 90-77 Triumph over NYIT

Alison Palma nets 11 off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting

RINDGE, N.H. (January 5, 2014) – Sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) tallied a career-high 28 points and eight rebounds on Sunday, and the Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team opened the second half of its 2013-14 season with a 90-77 triumph over NYIT at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens, who were playing for the first time since Dec. 13, won their second straight to even their record at 6-6 overall. NYIT dipped to 5-5.

Charette was 8-of-14 from the field and 12-of-15 from the free throw line. She scored 13 of her game-high total in the first half, including a string of six-consecutive points late as the Ravens shook off an early deficit to build a 49-34 lead at halftime.

Her three-point play with 2:59 left in the half capped her string and put the Ravens up by double-figures, where their lead hovered in that margin for a majority of the remainder of the contest. The Bears did trim the deficit to 77-68 with a little under six minutes left, but Charette followed with three points moments later to put Franklin Pierce back up by double-digits as the Ravens cruised in from there.

Charette was one of four Ravens to log double-figures in scoring, as senior guards Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) and Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) followed with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Freshman forward Alison Palma (Stamford, Conn.) came off the bench to drop in 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 24 minutes of action.

The Ravens shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the floor, including an impressive 47 percent from three-point range (9-of-19). Martelle bombed in three triples, while Palma and sophomore Ashley Forand (Storrs, Conn.) added two apiece.

NYIT shot 41 percent from the field and got double-digit scoring outputs from Demitra Apergis (23 points), Dina Ragab (21 points), and Rebecca Romeo (11 points).

The teams swapped leads early on in the game before Charette got going offensively to spark Franklin Pierce. Palma knocked down a three after Charette’s outburst, and Coderre added four-consecutive points to cap the half.

Martelle drained a trey to open the second half and Charette followed with four-straight points to put the Ravens up 56-36.

The Bears never seriously threatened after that, as the Ravens capped their non-conference schedule in time for Wednesday’s Northeast-10 contest at American International in Springfield, Mass. Tip for that game is slated for 5:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at http://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 Franklin Pierce women’s basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)