RINDGE, N.H. (January 23, 2016) -- With coaches on both sides sporting sneakers in support of the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative, the Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team took a third-quarter lead and held it on Saturday afternoon, to post a 72-58 Northeast-10 Conference win over Southern Connecticut State in the Fieldhouse.

The Ravens advance to an overall record of 10-7, and 7-5 in the conference, while the Owls fall to 13-7, and 6-6 in the NE-10.

The Owls controlled the first five points of the game, led by senior forward Danielle Powell, who converted a three-point play. Senior forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) put together a three-point play at the other end to put the Ravens on the board, and senior guard Natalie Bastian (Branford, Conn.) was right behind her to back it up with a layup, cutting the Owls' early lead to 8-5.

The Ravens found a 7-0 run following a Powell jumper. Senior guard Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.), junior forward Jasmyne Fogle (Bridgeport, Conn.) and sophomore guard Jemma Thacker (Aldgate Australia) connected for the run. Fogle and Thacker connected with back-to-back three-pointers to do most of the damage, building a 14-12 lead for the Ravens with just over three minutes to go in the opening quarter.

Senior forward Jackie Bethea broke up the run with a layup, and sophomore teammate Murphy Murad followed with a three-point shot of her own, pushing the Owls back out front, 17-14. Bastian and Fogle connected at the end of the quarter, with Fogle finding the equalizing three from the right side, making it 19-19 after one.

Powell opened the second quarter with a jumper but Bastian had a five-point run with a three-pointer and a fast-break layup with 7:30 left in the half, making it 24-21, the Ravens now in front.

Junior forward Alison Palma (Stamford, Conn.) got the ball off of a turnover for an uncontested layup to make it 26-21. But Powell would not leave the shot unanswered, as she fired back with a layup at the five-minute mark.

After a quiet two minutes, junior guard Dana Campbell (Merrick, N.Y.) broke the silence by splitting a pair of free throws, but Powell responded with a jumper, cutting the Ravens lead to 29-27. The last minute of the half belonged to the Ravens, as Bastian hit a triple and Gardner closed out the half with one free throw, giving the Ravens a 35-30 lead.

The third started with a head-to-head point battle, as Charette and Powell alternated buckets, with each scoring twice over the first two minutes. Charette followed with her third good hoop of the stanza, with a layup which resulted in a classic three-point play with just over seven minutes to go.

The Ravens went on a 9-0 run through the midpoint of the quarter, kick started by a layup from Palma. Gardner stole the and put in a fast-break layup halfway through the quarter, while Fogle hit another three and Charette rounded out the scoring with another layup. With the run, the Ravens found their largest lead of the game, 15 points, at 51-36.

Powell and Bethea split the next eight points as part of a 9-0 Owl run, closing the gap to seven points going into the final quarter, 52-45.

A messy final quarter started with Gardner and Charette connecting to increase the lead back to 10 points, 56-46. The Owls went without a fourth-quarter field goal until Murad broke the silence with 4:17 to go, hitting a three-pointer to cut the lead to 60-51.

Fogle answered with another three-point bucket without hesitation, pushing the lead back to 63-51.

Gardner found the backboard not too long after for a layup, but Powell was again able to answer for the Owls, making it 65-53. In the final minute, the Owls were left to resort to fouling the Ravens, who hit seven out of eight free throws down the stretch to put the game away, as the Ravens went on to win, 72-58.

Leading the Ravens in scoring was Charette with 17 points, followed by Bastian with 12 and Gardner with 10-points to go with nine rebounds. The Ravens shot 48.1% (25-52) in the field and 71.4% (15-21) from the free-throw line while holding the lead for a total of 29 of the game's 40 minutes.

The Owls were led by Powell with 25 points and Bethea with 12 points. SCSU shot just 38.3% (23-60) from the floor and only 50% in their 14 free-throw attempts.

The Ravens return home on February 3 where they host Saint Anselm at 5:30 p.m., but are back on the court on January 26, when they travel to Pace for a 5:30 p.m. start.

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