Jessica Hurd scores nine of her 15 points in the second and two FTs late clinch win

RINDGE, N.H. (December 7, 2013) – Junior forward Jessica Hurd (Kegworth, England) came off the bench to log 15 points and nine rebounds, and the Franklin Pierce University women’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing skid with an important 72-69 come-from-behind win over Saint Anselm on Saturday afternoon at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens improved to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Hawks dipped to 6-5 and 2-4 in league play.

Hurd scored nine of her points in the second 20 minutes on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor, and a 3-for-3 effort from the foul line. Her two biggest free throws came in the waning seconds of regulation, as they staked the Ravens to a 72-69 lead, which proved to be the difference as Candace Andrews’ potential tying three-point attempt skipped off the rim, sealing the win for the Ravens.

Hurd also came up huge offensively for the Ravens late in the contest, as they found themselves trailing 57-53 with 6:10 to go, and leaning against the ropes of another potential loss. She, however, had other ideas and sparked the late surge with a layup, and moments later converted a three-point play to put Franklin Pierce up 63-59 with 4:28 to go.

The teams went back and forth the rest of the way before Hurd’s two clinching free throws sealed it.

She was one of four Ravens to score in double-figures on the day, as sophomore forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) logged a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. It marked the seventh time in nine games this season she went for at least 20 points, and did so on an impressive 8-of-10 shooting.

Senior guard Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) and Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.) netted 15 and 11 points, respectively. Coderre had a spectacular all-around game with seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal and a block to go along with her double-figure scoring output.

Andrews paced Saint Anselm’s attack by matching Charette for game-high honors in scoring with 20 points. Andrews came up big defensively for the Hawks by swiping seven steals, including five in the second 20 minutes that enabled the Hawks to come back from as many as 13 points down to take the 57-53 advantage.

Tori Lehr notched a double-double herself with 15 points and 13 boards, while Briana Jones had 13 points.

Charette’s three-point play two minutes into the second half staked Franklin Pierce to a 42-29 lead, but St. A’s slowly chipped away at the deficit after that. Jones’ three-point play on a  layup and foul shot with 8:51 left tied it at 53-all, and Andrews followed moments later with two foul shots and a jumper to give the Hawks the lead for the first time in the second half.

Franklin Pierce held a 41-35 advantage on the boards. The Ravens also shot a solid 49 percent (27-of-55) from the field, while limiting Saint Anselm to just 39 percent shooting (25-of-64), including a dismal 1-of-10 effort from beyond the arc.

The one area of the game that kept the Hawks in the contest was forcing the Ravens into 20 turnovers, while committing just nine miscues themselves. St. A’s turned those 20 turnovers into 26 points.

Franklin Pierce scored 11 of the game’s first 15 points, aided by four points apiece from Coderre and Charette, and a deep three-ball from Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.).

Charette laid in a basket minutes later to stake the Ravens to a 23-13 lead, and their advantage hovered around double-figures the remainder of the half in building a 37-24 lead at the break. Charette pumped in 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to Bentley 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 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(.)