Franklin
Pierce Upsets Southern Connecticut, 69-66 RINDGE, N.H. (January 11, 2003) - Franklin Pierce held on down the stretch to post a 69-66 upset victory over Southern Connecticut State University, ranked seventh in the New England region, in Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this afternoon. Sophomore Patricia Lang (Monroe, N.H./Saint Johnsbury Academy) scored on a driving lay-up with seven-seconds left on the clock, then junior Susan Ocitti (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge R&L) stole the ensuing inbounds pass and drained both free-throws after she was fouled as the Ravens nearly saw an eight point lead with 4:24 left in regulation slip away before pulling off the upset win.
Lang netted a career-best 25 points, aided by ten-of-12 shooting from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists to lead Franklin Pierce to its second-straight victory. Senior Jennifer Webster (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) registered her third double-double of the season (seventh career) as she finished with 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to go with two blocks and two assists. Ocitti chipped in 12 points, six boards, two assists and two steals. Senior Rebecca Roy and junior Jessica Kolakoski each tallied double-doubles to lead Southern Connecticut. Roy netted 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds (six offensive), while Kolakoski finished with 16 points, 12 boards (four offensive) and three steals. Sophomore Kim Jackle chipped in nine points, eight assists and four rebounds. Franklin Pierce held a nine-point cushion on two occasions in the first half before Southern Connecticut trimmed the lead to one (30-29) at the intermission by limiting the Ravens to just one field goal during an 11-3 run over the final6:27 of the half. The Ravens lead was eight points (61-53) before the Owls used an 11-2 run to take its first lead since the 18:31-mark of the first half (64-63) with 1:17 to play in regulation after a Roy layup. Franklin Pierce regained the lead on its next possession with a Lang lay-in with 55-seconds to play. After the two teams traded possessions, junior Jenese Wilcox put Southern back ahead (66-65) with 18 seconds on the clock before Lang answered with her second driving lay-up in the final minute with seven-seconds left. Franklin Pierce (7-6, 4-6 NE-10) travels to Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday to face College of Saint Rose at 5:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut (10-3, 6-3 NE-10) travels to UMass Lowell on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. |
