Women's Hoops Pinned with a 74-61 Loss to Franklin Pierce
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack women's basketball team dropped a 74-61 decision Wednesday evening at the Volpe Gym. The loss dips the Warriors to 10-14 on the year and 8-12 in the Northeast-10. The Ravens soar to 20-6 overall and 16-4 in the league.
Taneka Brown (Lynn, Mass.) scored a career-high 18 points on the night while adding five steals and three rebounds. Sarah Benischek (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) and Valerie Avebe (Yaounde, Cameroon) each contributed 10 points for the home team. Gennifer Roy (Granby, Mass.) finished with eight points while Chelsea Shea (South Burlington, Vt.) recorded seven.
The Warriors and Ravens traded points to open the game. Five minutes into the game, Franklin Pierce held a one-point edge on Merrimack, 7-6.
An 8-2 run by the visitors put them ahead by seven with 13 minutes remaining in the first frame.
The Warriors battled back to pull to within two points midway through the opening half. A jumper by Avebe cut the Ravens' lead to just two, 18-16.
Franklin Pierce gained a six-point lead with back-to-back field goals. Merrimack once again slice the lead to two on Avebe's third bucket of the night with 7:38 left to play in the first period.
Marielle Giroud gave the Ravens' their largest lead of the half, putting the visitors up by eight with five minutes until intermission
The Warriors clawed into Franklin Pierce's advantage down the stretch, capping off the first half of play with a steal and layup by Brown.
Merrimack trailed 31-29 at halftime. Brown led the Warriors with 11 points through 20 minutes of action. Avebe finished the opening half with six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field. Both squads shot 46.4% from the floor in the first frame.
The Warriors jumped ahead 35-32 in the opening minutes of the second half on a layup by Kelly Schatzlein (Tolland, Conn.). Merrimack extended its lead to 39-34 with 16:16 remaining in regulation.
The Ravens leveled the score at 39-39 just a minute later and took the lead 41-39.
Shea connected on a three-pointer to restore the Warriors' edge, 42-41, with 12:30 left to play.
Franklin Pierce strung together a 5-0 streak to take a 46-42 advantage 8:30 into the second half.
The Ravens drained consecutive treys to gain separation from the home team as they ran out to a 10-point gap, 58-48, with 5:37 showing on the clock.
The visiting team staved off Merrimack's offense in the final minutes by possessing the ball and playing solid defense.
The Warriors shot 44.6% from the field in the game while Franklin Pierce sank 46.4% of its field goal attempts. The Ravens held a 34-31 margin on rebounds.
"We played extremely well in the first half. I was pleased with the way we played on both ends of the floor," said head coach Helen Williams. "We need to be able to maintain those levels of focus and intensity consistently."
Merrimack closes out the regular-season home schedule as it hosts Saint Michael's February 19. The Warriors will honor the four-members of their senior class in a pregame ceremony at Volpe Gym.
