RINDGE, N.H. (1/4/23) - The Franklin Pierce women's basketball team was handed a 68-41 loss in their return to in-conference play against Southern Connecticut State on Wednesday afternoon at The Fieldhouse.

With the loss, the Ravens have dropped three consecutive decisions and fall to 5-9 (2-6 NE10) on the season. Southern Connecticut has now won three straight, and improves to 9-3 (4-2 NE10) this season.

The Ravens battled it out in the early goings of the first quarter, jumping ahead for the first and only time of the afternoon on a three-pointer by freshman Leanna Heitmann (Pompey, N.Y.). However, the Owls quickly seized the momentum with a 9-0 run and clamped down defensively on the Raven offense, forcing Pierce to go 1-of-6 on their next seven shot attempts. Entering the second quarter trailing 15-9, the Ravens discovered some offensive success from the free-throw line (7-of-10), but continued to miss chances on the floor, shooting just 2-of-10 (20.0%) in the frame. At the half,  junior Ines Gimenez Monserrat (Mallorca, Spain) led Pierce with eight points scored, but Southern Connecticut held the advantage by a score of  36-21.

Freshman Sara Macary (Naugatuck, Conn.) opened the second half with a quick layup just 00:13 second in, but was unable to set the tone as the Ravens continued to surrender points on the other end. Throughout the third quarter, the Owls would outscore the Ravens by a whopping 27-5 margin, with all five Raven points belonging to Macary. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Owls had jumped ahead to lead 63-26, casting aside the Ravens' chances at a victory.

Off the bench, freshman Edisha Galan (Manchester, Conn.) and Laia Llorente (Madrid, Spain) delivered for the Ravens late in the action, scoring five and seven points respectively in the final five and a half minutes. The fourth quarter also saw Pierce outscore their opponent for the first time on the afternoon, but simply wasn't enough as the Owls decisively cruised to the 68-41 victory.  

The loss saw the Ravens shoot their lowest percentage of a game this season, going 10-of-51 (19.6%) from the floor. Ines Gimenez Monserrat finished the afternoon with a team-leading eight points scored, while Macary, Llorente and Galan each notched seven points in the effort.

Women's Basketball returns to the court this Saturday, January 7^th when they will host Queens (N.Y.) in a non-conference showdown at The Fieldhouse.