RINDGE, N.H. (11/30/22) – After a closely contested battle in the opening frame, the Franklin Pierce women's basketball team found themselves outworked by NE10 opponent Le Moyne College in the middle two quarters, falling to the Dolphins 77-57 on Wednesday evening at The Fieldhouse.  

The loss moves the Ravens to 3-4 (1-2 NE10) on the season, as well as 1-1 overall at home thus far. Following the win, the Dolphins improve to 4-2 (2-1 NE10).   

The Ravens fell behind early in the opening quarter by an 8-0 margin, but managed to shave the Dolphin lead to 8-7 over the next two minutes. Le Moyne would keep possesion to the lead throughout the entirety of the period, but two-point jump shots from freshman Kenzie Sirowich (Seymour, Conn.) and junior Ines Gimenez Monserrat (Mallorca, Spain) made sure the Ravens stayed within one point of the Dolphins, eventually trailing 12-11 with 2:10 left. Nearing the final minute, back-to-back three pointers saw Le Moyne expand their lead to 18-11, ahead of one final layup by Raven freshman Laia Llorente (Madrid, Spain) to bring Pierce into the second quarter trailing 18-15.

After surrendering a layup just 1:02 into the frame, Ines Gimenez Monserrat poured on five straight points to bring the Ravens and Dolphins to a 20-20 deadlock. However, Le Moyne had other plans and would respond with a 15-0 run, partially benefited off of foul troubles mid-way through by Franklin Pierce. In less than 30 seconds, the Ravens would send the Dolphins to the free throw line on four different occasions, with Le Moyne converting on 7-of-8 attempts. Heading into halftime, Le Moyne would hold a 35-24 advantage.

In an effort to close things out early, Le Moyne opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run to increase the lead to 42-26. At the 7:35 mark, Gimenez Monserrat finally broke the Raven silence from three-range, knocking down their first triple shot of the evening, ultimately going 2-of-3 in the quarter. Despite this, the Dolphins would stick with the Ravens as they searched for consistent production, and would enter the final frame with a commanding 20-point lead, 62-42.

To begin the fourth, the Ravens saw early success from junior Ashley Smith (Holden, Mass.) and freshman Edisha Galan (Manchester, Conn.), but not much else as Pierce would go nearly four minutes without a point. With time dwindling down, Ines Gimenez Monserrat would attempt to return the offensive spark with another six unanswered points, nevertheless it would be too little, too late as Le Moyne would remain on top through-and-through to the 77-57 final.

Ines Gimenez Monserrat posted a season-high 23 points in the effort for the Ravens, providing the majority of the Raven success from beyond the arc as the team struggled going 3-of-14 from three-range. Freshman Kenzie Sirowich spent 27 minutes on the floor for the Ravens, securing 10 points along with six rebounds, shooting 4-of-7 from the floor. Overall, Franklin Pierce would go 21-of-44 (47.7%) as a team in field goals.

Women's Basketball will return to the road to pay a visit to NE10 opponent New Haven on Saturday, Dec. 3rd at 1:30 p.m.