Senior C Jewel White compiled 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Franklin Pierce University over UMass Lowell, 75-68, Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference women's basketball tilt at the FPU Fieldhouse.

The loss halted a four-game winning streak for UMass Lowell, which slipped to 11-15 overall and 9-12 in the Conference entering Tuesday's home regular season finale against No. 6 Bentley (5:30).

UMass Lowell must await the outcome of Tuesday's game with Bentley, as well as the Saint-Michael's-Southern New Hampshire and Stonehill-Saint Anselm games, to learn its postseason fate. The top 10 teams make up the NE-10 Tournament field with No. 7 hosting No. 10 and No. 8 hosting No. 9 in the first round, to begin Friday, Feb. 24.

Franklin Pierce improved to 17-8 overall and 14-7 in the Conference (tied for fourth place).

The loss overshadowed a stellar effort from junior G Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.), who scored 25 points and dished eight assists in 40 minutes. Junior F Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) added 11 points and six rebounds (4 for 8 field goal shooting) while sophomore G Danielle DePierro (Tewksbury, Mass.) chipped in seven points along with career-highs of seven rebounds and seven assists.

"We looked a little tired out there the second half," said head coach Sarah Behn, who was the head coach at Franklin Pierce from 2000-02. "We lost mental composure and physical too. There has been a lot of pressure on us the last few weeks. The kids have responded but today we didn't have it in the second half. "I'm really psyched we made the tournament," she added. "Anything can happen Tuesday night. We'll go back to the drawing board on Monday."

White converted 7-12 field goals and all four free throws and led three teammates in double digits. Senior F Marielle Giroud added 17 points, 18 rebounds (nine offensive) and seven assists while sophomore G Brittany Martelle chipped in 16 points and four assists.

Sophomore G Kate McDonald had 11 points.

UMass Lowell led 36-25 at the half, capitalizing on Franklin Pierce's 9-36 field goal shooting (opposed to its own 15-40). But the Ravens found their touch in the second half, shooting .529 (18-34) while the River Hawks shot .406 (13-32).

Both teams combined for 142 field goal attempts, but Franklin Pierce won the battle underneath the glass, 51-39 overall and 26-21 offensively. The Ravens also enjoyed slight edges at the free throw line (13-7) and from 3-point range (24-15).

UMass Lowell led 45-36 with 14:25 left to play, but Franklin Pierce went on a 13-4 run to knot the score 49-49 with 10:43 left to play. Martelle scored 10 of her points in the run with a pair of treys, two free throws and a layup.

"In the first half I thought our defense was great," Behn said "We made them turn it over a lot. But in the second half we looked fatigued and we got in foul trouble. Defensively we didn't maintain the way we needed to. Offensively, besides Bianca, things weren't that fluid for us."

The score remained virtually even until under a minute, when the Ravens ended the game with seven straight points while the River Hawks came up empty on their last four possessions. Franklin Pierce converted 5 of 6 free throws in the final 36 seconds to preserve the win.

UMass Lowell opened the game with a 23-8 run on nine points from Simmons and four from Wilson en route to a 36-25 lead at the break.