Women’s Basketball Not Able to Catch Holy Family, Suffers Loss on the Road, 56-48

PHILADELPHIA (December 9, 2015) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball found itself in a defensive battle with Holy Family on Wednesday night. The Ravens were able to tie the game three times, but were not able to catch the Tigers and fell, 56-48, at Campus Center Gymnasium.

With the loss, the Ravens fall to an overall record of 2-4, while their Northeast-10 record remains 1-4. Holy Family will advance to a 5-3 overall record and remains 3-0 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

With Franklin Pierce suffering a turnover out of the gate in the first quarter, the Holy Family Tigers got on the board first, taking a 4-0 lead only a minute into the game.

The game would remain in a defensive standstill for the next two and half minutes, before senior forward Natalie Bastian (Branford, Conn.) got a fastbreak layup to put in the first points for the Ravens.

Tigers senior guard Erin Fenningham put up four points for Holy Family, with a layup and two free throws, to counter a three from Bastian, as the Tigers moved to an 8-5 lead. The Fenningham layup was the first of six straight points for Holy Family over the next two minutes. Senior forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) briefly broke the run with two free throws, but was immediately followed by a layup from Tigers junior guard Jill Conroy to push the first-quarter lead as high as seven points (14-7).

The Ravens were able to make two more layups -- from senior guard Dyamond Gardner (Cambridge, Mass.) and a buzzer-beater from Jemma Thacker (Aldgate, Australia) -- to cut the lead to 14-11 at the end of the quarter.

Each team was able to get a layup within the first minute of the second quarter, before the game lapsed into another brief scoring drought. The Ravens were able to finish the comeback from the seven-point deficit on a three-point play from Bastian to tie the game at 16-16.

The tie was short-lived, as Holy Family scored the next eight points. They all came from Conroy, who hit a pair of three-pointers and a fastbreak layup as the Tigers pushed the lead to 24-16 halfway through the second stanza.

Middleton made a three-point shot for the Ravens with just over four minutes left in the half. After another scoring lull, broken this time by freshman guard Sarah Middleton (Barrington, R.I.) with a jumper, the Ravens had closed within striking distance again at 26-21.

This would be the last of the scoring until the four seconds to go, when Holy Family freshman forward Sydney Jackson put in a tip-in to push the Tigers up going into the second half, 28-21.

The Ravens collected three-point shots in the start of the third quarter, as Bastian sunk two back-to-back three-pointers, while Middleton got in on the action as well just under three minutes in, cutting the gap to 31-30.

Both teams went quiet for three minutes after a pair of Fenningham free throws, before Holy Family struck for five straight points, pushing the run to 7-0 and the lead to 38-30.

Franklin Pierce would have the next three baskets from there, as Gardner hit a three-pointer, while Thacker and Charette connected for layups, putting the Ravens once again just one point behind the Tigers, 38-37.

Holy Family's answer to the 7-0 Franklin Pierce run came on at the last second with another tip-in, by junior forward Abigail Iannotti, to give the Tigers a 40-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With the Ravens down by three going into the final quarter, Tigers senior forward Kasey Woetzel was the first on the board. Her layup was followed by two free throws by Thacker, which she followed up with a three-pointer to tie the game, 42-42.

A layup by Holy Family sophomore guard Kylie Giedemann took the lead back for her team, and Woetzel followed with a layup, before Bastian answered with a three-point shot. Another jumper by Woetzel came next, allowing the Tigers to stay in front, 48-45.

After Bastian split a pair of free throws, Woetzel scored the next four points over a two-minute time span, as her layup and two free throws solidified the Tigers lead at 52-46, with just over three minutes left in the game.

The Ravens closed to within four (52-48) on a jumper from Charette with 2:54 to go, before the game fell into another scoring drought. With 45 seconds to go, Fenningham made an offensive rebound and a layup, then was later fouled and split a pair of free throws to make it 55-48 with 17 seconds to play. One more foul shot for Holy Family before time would expire and the Ravens would fall to the Tigers, 56-48.

Leading the scoring for the Ravens was Bastian with 18 points, followed by Thacker with 11oints and six rebounds. Not far behind was Middleton with eight points of her own. Gardner put together an effort of eight rebounds and five assists on the night.

Leading the Tigers in scoring was Woetzel with 13 points and seven rebounds, joined by Conroy, who had 13 points as well, while Fenningham collected 12 rebounds.

In the field, Franklin Pierce shot 25.8% (17-66), while making it to the line seven times, sinking six of those shots, and the team collected 51 total rebounds on the night.

Holy Family was 33.3% from the field (22-66) and made it to the line 16 times, making 10. The Tigers collected 43 rebounds in the game.

Franklin Pierce returns home against Merrimack at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the Fieldhouse for a Northeast-10 match-up.

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).