SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 6, 2021) – The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team played their second game of a home and home series on the road at American International College and were defeated by a 68-59 score against the Yellow Jackets on Saturday evening. The win pushes the hosts to 7-1 on the year while the Ravens drop to 0-2.

Guard Sophia Holmes (Oakland, Maine) was the leading point-getter for Pierce scoring 13 points to go with five rebounds and one assist. Freshman forward Ashley Smith (Holden, Mass.) played 15 minutes off the bench for FPU and was productive chipping in 11 points on 4-of-6 (66.7%) shooting including one three-pointer and assist. Rylee Skinner (Leominster, Mass.) came two rebounds shy of a double-double dropping 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds – five offensive.

Kyla Smith scored a contest-best 16 markers for AIC. Sara Guntin Barriero stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and two assists.

FPU led by a high of 15 points in the first quarter as they connected on 9-of-16 (56.3%) of their shot attempts, however, the Yellow Jacket reserves did the heavy lifting scoring 38 points off the pine.

Pierce scored four of their first five points of the contest via second chance putbacks by Lisa Sulejmani (Burlington, Vt.) and Skinner. The Ravens early edge expanded to 9-4 as Emma Carter (Bristol, Vt.) knocked down a deep two at the top of the point forcing AIC into a 30-second timeout with 3:43 left in the quarter.

Smith checked into the game and was an immediate force in the painted area notching back-to-back right block scores to lead 13-4. Ines Gimenez Monserrat (Calvia, Spain) put home an and1 off an inbounds play and Smith drained a left-wing three-pointer to complete the 18-2 Raven run and give them their biggest lead of the game 21-6 with 41 seconds left in the first. Kyla Smith of AIC answered with a three-ball of her own to stop the run and end the quarter with her team behind 21-9.

The Yellow Jacket scoring stretch carried over to the second quarter and it reached nine straight points which dropped the scoring margin to five, 21-16 thanks to a hoop and harm minus a free throw. Holmes temporarily halted the AIC run with a pull-up jumper from the elbow and a Gimenez Monserrat two reestablished a nine point edge 25-16. An 11-3 Yellow Jacket scoring stretch put them down only one, 28-27. A Skinner deuce at the 26-second mark regained the two-possession lead at 32-28, but AIC converted a runner with four seconds left to trail 32-30 at halftime.

Both teams swapped points back and forth in the early going of the third and the Ravens trailing by three, 41-38, went on to notch eight in a row to take a two-score, 46-41 lead with 3:52 to go in the quarter. The runs continued this time for the hosts putting together a 12-4 binge to end the quarter with a four-point 54-50 advantage.

In the fourth, the Ravens went cold hitting only 2-of-16 of their shots (16.7%) and they scored five points from the line. Holmes took the ball into the paint with the shot clock expiring to start the quarter and made it a 54-52 deficit for Pierce. AIC added eight straight including two Smith trifectas to move ahead by 10, 62-52 with 7:56 to go. Two freebies apiece by Sulejmani and Carter brought it down to a two-possession game, 62-56, but the Ravens missed their next five shots and two free throws as the hosts iced the contest at the 2:40 mark.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://www.fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the women's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensWBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/franklin_pierce_wbb/).