Women’s Basketball Squeaks by Merrimack

RINDGE, N.H. (November 22, 2014) – With less than a minute to play, junior Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored a layup to give the Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team the lead against Merrimack College Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse. The Ravens posted a 78-76 win making them 2-0 at their home court.

With the win, Franklin Pierce advances to 3-1 overall with 2-0 in Northeast-10 Conference play, while Merrimack falls to 2-2 and 0-2 in Northeast-10 Conference play.

The Ravens started out strong, holding an 18-point lead at 7:39 in the first half, but a layup by Warriors senior Aria Johnson would start the rally to close the deficit. With less than a minute to play, the Ravens were up eight, but a jumper by senior Jessica Hurd (Kegworth, England) at the shot-clock buzzer would give the Ravens back a double digit lead, 35-25; this also marks the last time in the game that there would be a double digit lead. However, with seconds left on the clock, Merrimack senior Chloe Rothman would hit a three, rounding out the halftime score to 35-28.

Junior Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.) was the high scorer for the first half with 12 points on the board.

Merrimack took the lead, 38-37, with just over 17 minutes left the game, their first lead since the first 30 seconds of the game. Charette would regain the lead with a layup seconds later. With 14:33 on the clock, senior Chloe Rothman would give the Warriors back the lead 47-46. Graduate student Kate McDonald (Fall River,Mass.) would sink a three, but senior Allison Wagner would tie the game 49-49 with a layup with 13:14 on the clock.

The game would remain within three points or less, until 9:06 when a layup by senior Aria Johnson would give the Warriors a five point lead, 58-53. A minute later she would bring the team to a six point lead with two free throws. Gardner answered with back to back three pointers tying the game 60-60 with just under eight minutes left in the game.

Free throws by Charette would tie the game up 66-66 with 4:23 remaining. Junior Natalie Bastian (Branford, Conn.) would tie the game again with under four minutes, 68-68. The Warriors would pull away with just under three minutes with a steal and layup by junior Ashley Weissmann, but Gardner responded with a layup bringing the game back within two points. The Warriors gained their highest lead for the rest of the game with a jumper by Rothman, 74-70, with just over two minutes to play.

A minute and a half left on the clock, Bastian would bring the game within two, and a foul shot by Hurd would bring the game within one, 74-73. Rothman would increase the Warrior lead to three with a layup seconds later. Hurd brought the game back within one point with a strong layup down the middle, 76-75. With a layup by Charette with under 30 seconds to play, the Ravens would take the lead for the rest of the game, 77-76.

With seconds left on the clock, the Warriors would have a turnover which led to a change in possession. Charette would be fouled and make one of her two free throws, giving the Ravens a two point victory over Merrimack, 78-76.

Chloe Rothman would have 4 steals and be game high scorer with 30 points- 22 of them in the second half alone. 17 points would belong to Aria Johnson and Ashley Weissmann would post 3 steals.

Kara Charette would be Ravens high scorer with 22 points and 7 rebounds. Dyamond Garnder would have 20 points, 5 assists, and 8 rebounds.

The Ravens travel to Stonehill on Tuesday, November 25^th at 5:30 pm to take on the Skyhawks in Northeast-10 Conference play.

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 basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).