Brittany Martelle adds 14 points for the Ravens

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (November 8, 2013) – Sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) narrowly missed a double-double with 24 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team opened its 2013-14 campaign Friday night with a tough 80-71 setback to Goldey-Beacom at Morgan Arena in the USciences Mixer in Philadelphia, Pa. The Ravens fell to 0-1, while Goldey-Beacom improved to 1-0.

Charette’s 24 points were a game-high, as it came on 8-of-14 shooting. She led three Ravens to score in double-figures, also including senior guard Brittany Martelle’s (Brookfield, Conn.) 14 points and classmate Brooke Coderre’s (Woonsocket, R.I.) 13.

Franklin Pierce shot a respectable 45.6 percent from the field (26-of-57), but Goldey-Beacom was better at a 52.8 percent clip (28-of-53), and was led by four double-digit scorers including Chelsea Grover’s team-high 21 points. Lillian Chukwueze followed with 18 points.

Goldey-Beacom came racing out of the gates early in the second half knocking down each of its first three shots to extend its advantage to 50-40. Grover drained a jumper during the surge, while Taylor Leonard knocked down a triple to cap it. Leonard would finish the game with 14 points herself.

Charette stemmed the tide briefly with a layup, but Goldey-Beacom countered with five-consecutive points to go up 13, as the run was aided once again by a Leonard triple.

Goldey-Beacom kept the offensive output going and minutes later pushed its lead out to 16 at 61-45 with 13:00 remaining following back-to-back jumpers from Dakia Manning and a pair of free throws from Chukwueze.

The Ravens could never mount a threatening rally the rest of the way, as Goldey-Beacom kept its lead between 9-to-12 points the rest of the way in taking the opener.

Goldey-Beacom held a slim 34-30 rebounding advantage for the contest.

The opening 14 minutes of the game were back and forth with eight ties and four lead changes. A jumper from Coderre knotted things up at 30-all, but Goldey-Beacom responded with 11-straight points, keyed by four points from Grover and capped with a Manning three-ball, to go up 41-30 with 2:47 left until halftime.

Franklin Pierce didn’t panic and closed out the first half in fine fashion pulling within five at 43-38, and thinking that the second half could bear some similar results as the closing rally. Charette sparked the half’s final rally with five points.

The Ravens return to action Saturday when they close out play in the Mixer by taking on host-school USciences at 3 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(.)