Kara Charette goes for season-high 26 points

RINDGE, N.H. (November 26, 2013) – Sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) pumped in a game-high 26 points Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough as the Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team watched as No. 11 nationally ranked Stonehill went on a late surge to pull away for an 85-75 triumph at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens had their three-game winning streak snapped to fall to 3-3 and 2-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks improved to 5-2 and 2-1 in league play.

Charette’s play was a major factor in the Ravens giving a spirited effort in hanging with the nationally-ranked Skyhawks. She scored 14 of her final point total in the second half, including a layup with 10:33 remaining to pull Franklin Pierce even with Stonehill at 55-55.

Stonehill, though, took its play up another level and began mixing in inside and outside shots, eventually scoring the next eight points to begin a final surge that the Ravens had no answer for. Mary Louise Dixon, who netted 24 points for the night, scored four-consecutiveto aid the 8-0 rally, and her layup with 6:47 left pushed Stonehill’s advantage out to double-digits at 68-58. Stonehill never let the Ravens threaten the rest of the way.

Dixon was 9-of-16 from the field, including 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the second 20 minutes. She also dished out six assists, grabbed four rebounds, and swiped a steal to complete her impressive night.

Amy Pelletier shared team-high honors in scoring for Stonehill, as she dropped in 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting. She had 13 of her points in the first half on the strength of a trio of three balls from long range.

Paige Marshall and Tori Faieta followed with 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Skyhawks in the win.

Senior guards Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) and Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) joined Charette in the double-digit scoring column for the Ravens, as they went for 17 and 14 points, respectively.

Both teams shot well from the floor with Stonehill going at a 57 percent clip (34-of-60), and the Ravens firing at 52 percent (29-of-56).

The teams came out gunning in the opening stages of the first half, scoring on the first five possessions. Coderre bombed in a three-pointer minutes later, Martelle drained a jumper, and Charette laid in a basket as Franklin Pierce jumped out to an 18-13 lead midway through the period.

Stonehill rallied with five-consecutive points to tie it, including a triple from Pelletier, and the teams began going basket for basket the remainder of the half. The Ravens scored five of the stanza’s final six points on the strength of a deep three from Martelle, and another layup from Charette, to even things up at 37-all at halftime.

The opening stages of the second half mirrored the latter part of the first, but back-to-back layups from Charette pushed the Ravens’ lead out to 49-45. Pelletier, though, rained in another three moments later to put Stonehill back up at 50-49, and the teams traded baskets for the next several possessions before the Skyhawks finally pulled away.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday afternoon when the Ravens travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Assumption at 1:30 p.m. in Laska Gymnasium.

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(.)