North Easton, Mass. (December 2, 2015) -- Senior guard Natalie Bastian (Branford, Conn.) matched her career high with 26 points on Wednesday evening, but the Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team could not hold a five-point fourth-quarter lead in a 71-70 loss at Stonehill. Junior guard Kelly Martin led five Skyhawks in double figures with 19 points in the Northeast-10 Conference game at Merkert Gymnasium.

With the loss, the Ravens fall to a record of 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference. Meanwhile, the Stonehill Skyhawks advance their record to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Conference.

In the first quarter, the Ravens got into a quick scoring groove, as they led at the end of the first 10 minutes, 22-18. The Skyhawks were first to get three points on the board, but Bastian was just as quick to ensure that the Ravens got on the board as well, with an early layup. The Ravens followed up with three-point shots from senior guard Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.) and then Bastian, as the teams traded baskets early and Franklin Pierce took its first lead, at 10-9. The lead changed hands multiple times through the middle of the period, before the Ravens went on an 8-1 run to surge to the four-point lead at the end of the quarter.

Senior forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) was the first to put points on the board in the second quarter. The next four Ravens points would come from junior forward Alison Palma (Stamford, Conn.) to kick start a quick spurt of nine straight points for Franklin Pierce, capped by a three-point play from Bastian with 6:17 left in the quarter to push the lead to 12 (33-21). The Ravens would hold the lead going into halftime, 36-29.

The second half got underway to a good start with a three-point shot from sophomore guard Jemma Thacker (Aldgate, Australia), which made it a 10-point Franklin Pierce lead (39-29), their largest of the second half. Stonehill struck back with six straight points, followed by a three-pointer from Gardner, which made it 42-35. That would be where the lead would start to disintegrate for the Ravens, who went nearly four minutes before their next field goal. The Skyhawks piled up Ravens fouls over the remainder of the quarter and put on a clinic from the free-throw line, going 12-for-12 over the final 5:24 of the quarter as part of an 18-11 run the rest of the period. The game went to the fourth quarter tied at 53, after the 24-point quarter from Stonehill.

The Ravens started the fourth quarter strong with a 7-2 run, as Bastian and Palma made layups while Thacker was able to sink her shot from behind the three-point line, as Franklin Pierce surged to a five-point lead (60-55) with 8:07 remaining. The Ravens allowed Stonehill access to the basket and the free-throw line, as a trio of layups and a pair of free throws made for an answering run of 6-2, closing the gap to one-point (62-61), with 6:18 to play. The run quickly grew to 9-2, as Martin buried a three-pointer to give the Skyhawks a 64-62 lead they would never relinquish.

Scoring would remain at a standstill for the next three minutes, when four unanswered Skyhawks points -- on a pair of field goals by senior guard Paige Marshall -- resulted in a Franklin Pierce timeout and a 68-62 Stonehill lead.

Bastian single-handedly trying to make the comeback for the Ravens, as she scored eight points in the final 57 seconds of the game, including a pair of three-point shots. It would not be enough to tie and send the game into overtime however, as the Ravens fell to the Skyhawks, 71-70.

Leading the scoring for the Ravens was Bastian, with 26 points, followed by junior forward Jasmyne Fogle (Bridgeport, Conn.) with 10 points. The Ravens shot 49.2% (29-59) from the field and only made it to the free-throw line seven times, which they were only able to convert into four points for 57.1%.

Leading Stonehill in scoring was Martin with 19 points on the night. The Skyhawks went 36.4% from the floor (20-55) and made it to the free-throw line 31 times, making 27 of those shots for a percentage of 87.1%.

The Ravens return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 5, when they travel to Assumption for a Northeast-10 Conference contest at 1 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.

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).