Dec. 8, 2009

Box Score

Audio Recap - The River Hawk Report - December 9, 2009

Senior F Johanna Leedham (Ellesmere Port, England) compiled 29 points, 12 rebounds and five steals as No. 2 Franklin Pierce defeated UMass Lowell, 67-62, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball clash at the Costello Athletic Center.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the NE-10 and enjoys a 12-day hiatus before visiting Georgian Court Sunday, Dec. 20 (1:00).

Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 2 in the latest WBCA Division II poll, improved 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Conference. The Ravens host Stonehill Friday at 5:30.

Freshman G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, CT) led the River Hawks with 15 points, four assists and three steals while seniors Jen Valente (Prospect, CT) and Krissy Little (Concord, NH) each had 14 points.

Valente also grabbed six rebounds and committed four thefts while shooting 7 for 14 from the floor. Little connected on 4 of 8 field goal attempts and 4 of 4 free throws.

"I thought we played very hard, which was nice," said Head Coach Kathy O'Neil. "I think we have to do a better job of playing smart. we definitely made some mistakes that hurt. us. We played the No. 2 team in the country, we played hard. We need to learn from it and move on.

"It was a couple of little things here and there," she added. "If we had gotten one more rebound, if we had made one more layup, if we had taken care of the ball one more time. Those are the things that make the difference."

Leedham hit 10 of 19 field goal attempts, including 5 of 7 in the second half. Sophomore F Marielle Giroud (Martigny, Switzerland) added 11 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 5 of 7 field goals.

The River Hawks led 45-43 with 10:16 left to play, but the Ravens used a 12-4 run to snatch a 55-49 lead with 7:07 left to play. Freshman G Tiffany Johnson (Swanton, VT) led the run with six points.

The River Hawks cut the deficit to four, 58-54, on a layup by senior G Rahshala Valentine (Cincinnati, OH), but Franklin Pierce responded with a pair of free throws by junior G Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, RI) and a trey by Leedham to jump ahead 63-54 with 1:37 left.

Valentine buried another 3-pointer, but the Ravens converted four free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

UMass Lowell jumped out to a 20-9 lead in the first half behind eight points from Valente and a pair of treys by Simmons. Franklin Pierce chipped away, however, and used its own 20-9 spurt to knot the score 29-29 at the break. Leedham led the way with seven points while Giroud added six.