MANCHESTER, N.H. (12/6/22) – The Franklin Pierce women's basketball team picked up their third win of the season in close fashion on Tuesday evening, defeating in-conference host Saint Anselm College by a 63-60 final score. Junior Ines Gimenez Monserrat (Mallorca, Spain) hit the game winning jump shot with 32 seconds left to play, before adding on a final free throw to secure the victory for Pierce.  

The win moves the Ravens to 4-5 (2-3 NE10) on the year, ending their two-game skid. Saint Anselm, with the loss, falls to 2-6 (1-5 NE10) overall, and has lost their last three games.

Freshman guard Kenzie Sirowich (Seymour, Conn.) opened the scoring on the night for the Ravens, knocking down a pair of early two-point jump shots. Despite the fast start, Saint Anselm would counter with an aggressive 9-0 run throughout the majority of the frame, putting themselves in the lead 11-6 heading into the second quarter.

The Ravens' scoring woes continued into the early stages of the second frame, as the Hawks continued to pull away on an extra 11-2 run. However, at the 3:59 mark of the quarter, freshman Leana Heitmann (Pompey, N.Y.) and Sara Macary (Naugatuck, Conn.) converted on consecutive drives to end the drought for Franklin Pierce. Before the completion of the half, Macary would tack on four additional points to send the Ravens to the break trailing the Hawks 28-16.  

Just ten seconds into the second, junior Ines Gimenez Monserrat set the tone with a rapid three-point shot. Following a 6-0 stretch by the Hawks, Gimenez Monserrat continued to animate the Ravens' chances with five consecutive points, once again finding success from behind the arc to bring the score to 34-24 Hawks. Suddenly, the Ravens were matching Saint Anselm drive for drive, eventually providing the spark for their largest scoring run of the evening, ending the quarter with an 8-2 advantage. Even more suddenly, the Saint Anselm lead had slowly decreased down to 47-42 entering the final frame.

With the opportunity presenting itself, Sara Macary quickly took advantage with Pierce's first five points, with a follow up basket from Kenzie Sirowich bringing the contest to its first deadlock since the opening quarter at 49-all.  A free throw by freshman Laia Llorente (Madrid, Spain) then gave Pierce their first lead of the night at 8:18, before the team added another six points between Sara Macary and Keely Toohey (Melbourne, Australia) to pull ahead 54-49 with 6:35 left. However, the lead would also present the Hawks with their own chance to rebound in the contest, as the score would eventually lock-up again at 60-60 heading into the final minute.

It was in the final minute that Ines Gimenez Monserrat would deliver her late heroics, along with some late luck on a pair of missed Hawk three-pointers, to escape with the 63-60 win.

Sara Macary scored her highest point totals of the season thus far with 25 from the floor, going a perfect 7-of-7 from three-range through a match-high 40 minutes played. Ines Gimenez Monserrat brought the energy with 13 points in the effort, while Kenzie Sirowich posted her third straight double-digit performance with 10 points, also matching her season best eight rebounds off the board. As a team, Pierce went 25-of-52 (48.1%) from the floor.

The Ravens return to The Fieldhouse on Friday, December 9^th to kick off a two-game weekend, opening with Pace University for a 4:00 p.m. start.