Franklin Pierce Ranked Sixth 
in Northeast Region
Ravens ranked for first time since 
1999 NCAA Tournament campaign

RINDGE, N.H. (January 19, 2006) – The Franklin Pierce women’s basketball team is ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional rankings released by the Northeast Regional selection committee this week. The poll is the first released by the committee this season.

            Franklin Pierce (10-6, 7-4 NE-10) appears in the Northeast Regional rankings for the first time since its NCAA Tournament campaign in 1999, when the Ravens made their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance as the fourth seed at the regional at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. Franklin Pierce is cited with a 9-3 in-region record through games of Sunday, January 15.

            Eight teams from each of the eight regions receive bids to the NCAA Division II Championships, with automatics bids awarded to each of the conference tournament championships. There are three Conferences (Northeast-10, New York Collegiate Athletic and Central Atlantic Collegiate) in the Northeast Region, leaving five at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament.

Franklin Pierce is back in action tonight when it travels to Pleasantville, N.Y., for a key Northeast-10 and regional meeting with Pace University, ranked fifth in the Northeast, at 5:30 p.m. The Ravens return home on Saturday to host Le Moyne College at 1:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball
Northeast Region Rankings – 1/18

Rk.     Team           Overall           In-region
1.        Stonehill           15-0           14-0
2.        American International           12-2           12-2
3.        Southern Conn. State  13-2           11-2
4.        Saint Michael’s           11-3           9-3
5.        Pace           11-4           11-4
6.        Franklin Pierce           10-5           9-3
7.        Bentley           11-7           10-4
8.        Holy Family           10-1           9-1
9.        Saint Rose           9-6           6-6
10.       New Haven  10-3            10-3