NORTH EASTON, Mass. (February 4, 2017) – Franklin Pierce University women's basketball players Sarah Middleton (Barrington, R.I.) and Mikayla Deguire (Watervilet, N.Y.) scored in double figures as the Stoenhill College women's basketball team hung on to a 62-57 victory in Northeast-10 Conference action on Paula Sullivan Court Saturday afternoon. With the win, the hosts improve to 10-10, 9-7 NE10 and the loss was the Ravens 19th of the season.

This afternoon versus Stonehill was the second game of the women's team Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. FPU converted 3-of-16 (18.8%) from long range meaning $28.50 has been donated to the American Cancer Society. Since the challenge began on Wednesday, the Crimson and Grey have gone 10-of-32 (31.3%) from deep and have amassed a total of $88.00 to the ACS. To make a pledge for the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge please click here.

Middleton dropped a career-high 19 points in the contest on an 8-of-13 (61.5%) shooting afternoon. She also snagged four rebounds, handed out one assist and came up with one steal. Deguire was equally effective for the Ravens as the senior forward dropped a game-high 21 points and a personal-best 12 rebounds en route to her second career double-double.

Samantha Hyslip led the Skyhawks with a team-high 20 points and six rebounds. Courtney Walsh notched 19 points on a 5-of-9 (55.6%) three-point shooting performance.

The Ravens had the more superior paint presence as they tallied 38 points in the post to their counterparts 22 and the Crimson and Grey tallied 27 points off 19 Stonehill turnovers compared to 11 off the Ravens 18.

Walsh scored the first three points of the game as she buried a three from the left wing as the shot clock buzzer sounded. The Ravens got two of those points back on the next possession as Kelsey Mayo (Oakland, Maine) banged in a layup in the post off the glass. Walsh then hit another three on the opposite wing to extend the Skyhawks lead to 6-2.

A split of free throws increased the hosts lead to five at 7-2. The lead hovered around five for a few possessions until Middleton made two straight layups to bring the deficit to one, 9-8. The Raven run of points continued as Dana Campbell (Merrick, N.Y.) converted a mid-range jumper from just inside the three point line to give FPU their first lead at 10-9.

Both teams made layups which kept the margin at one point until Walsh put the rock on the floor and made another wing three, Maty Diabate knocked home a layup and Tayler Wornum split a pair of free throws and grabbed the rock which resulted in a second chance bucket as the score moved to 19-12 in favor of Stonehill. Over the final 1:55 of the quarter, the teams failed to score as the hosts led by seven at the end of the first.

The Stonehill lead stayed at seven for a few trips down the court before Deguire notched a layup in the post which made the score 23-18 in favor of the Skyhawks. The hosts scoring drought continued as Jemma Thacker (Nairne, South Australia) connected on a three which brought the deficit to two, 23-21. After the Thacker make, Hyslip answered with a layup to push her squads lead back to two possessions.

A 7-2 Raven run spurned by two Middleton fast break scores and a Thacker driving hoop and harm put Pierce back ahead by one 28-27 with 2:44 left before break.

Hyslip scored the final three points of the half for the Skyhawks to put them up by three, 31-28 until Middleton sank a wild three from the top of the key as the shot clock expired to tie the score at 31 all at intermission.

Middleton tallied 11 of her 19 points on 5-of-8 (62.5%) shooting in the first half while Deguire racked up eight points and four rebounds. As a team, FPU knocked down 14-of-27 (51.9%) of their shot attempts and scored 22 of their 31 markers in the low post.

Walsh drained a shot from beyond-the-arc to start the scoring in the third quarter to put her team ahead by three at 34-31. On the next Raven possession, Middleton drove through the lane for an uncontested two which brought the Skyhawk lead back to one, 34-33. A Kelsey Shaw layup and a Diabate lay-in pushed the Skyhawks lead to four, 38-24.

Trailing by four, Middleton went to work as she scooped the ball off the glass for two and knocked down one of two at the charity stripe to put her team within one, 38-37 with 5:14 to go in the third.

Following a 30 second Stonehill stoppage, Nicole Rojas converted a jumper from the right elbow and Wornum poured in a layup to push the Skyhawks lead to two possessions, 42-37. Middleton racked up the next three points in the game as she split a pair of freebies, stole the ball away from Rojas and went from half court to the rack for two.

With time dwindling down, Cameryn Wilson (Newport News, Va.) tried to tie up the score, but her jumper was off the mark and Deguire corralled the board. Deguire put the ball back up, but missed then she once again came down with the rock and tipped the ball back up for the tying points. The game was knotted at 44 all at the end of three.

Deguire came up huge again in the start of the fourth as she kept the possession alive again and put the rock back up off the glass to regain the lead to the Ravens 46-44.

Stonehill scored eight straight points as Hyslip connected on a jumper, Walsh notched a three from the left wing and Shaw drained a long range attempt to push Stonehill back ahead by six, 52-46. Deguire singlehandedly tied up the contest at 52 all as she poured in a second chance bucket, made another layup in the paint and connected on two free throws which led to a Stonehill timeout.

Six free throws in a row for the hosts put them ahead 58-52 with 2:43 left to play. FPU continued to battle as Campbell drained a wing trey to put her team within three, 58-55 with 2:33 to go. The teams swapped missed shots until Deguire notched a baseline jumper to put the Ravens within one 58-57.

With 50 seconds to go, Rojas found Hyslip down low on the right block and the forward threw the ball in to increase the Skyhawks slim lead to 60-57. On the ensuing Raven possession, Thacker had a look at a game-tying three, but the ball clanked off the rim. The Ravens were forced to foul and Shaw, with a chance to ice the game, missed both freebies giving the Ravens another chance to tie.

The Ravens used a timeout with 13.3 left on the clock to draw up a play. Middleton threw the ball to a wide open Deguire on the right wing and the senior rifled a three-ball towards the rim, the ball was just short as it tickled the net as the Skyhawks scored two more points on free throws and won 62-57.

The Ravens return to Rindge on Wednesday for a NE10 contest versus Saint Michael's with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.

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).