12th-seeded
Franklin Pierce to Face #5 Southern Connecticut RINDGE, N.H. (February 27, 2003) - The 12th-seeded Franklin Pierce women’s basketball team hits the road to face fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University, ranked sixth in the Northeast Region, in first round action of the 2003 Northeast-10 Conference women’s basketball tournament on Sunday, March 2, at 2 p.m. Franklin Pierce (13-14, 8-14 NE-10) is making its second-straight appearance in the Northeast-10 Tournament. The Ravens earned the 11th spot in the Tournament last season and fell to sixth-seeded Le Moyne College, 77-55, in Syracuse, N.Y., in the first round. The winner of Sunday’s game against Southern Connecticut State (19-8, 14-8 NE-10) will advance to the quarterfinal round to face fourth-seeded Merrimack College (20-7, 15-7 NE-10) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Although the Ravens claimed a 69-66 victory over the Owls in their lone regular season encounter back on January 11, they face a daunting task upon entering Southern’s Moore Fieldhouse in New Haven, Conn., where SCSU has lost just one game (12-1, 10-1 NE-10) all season, with that coming at the hands of top-seeded and No. 3-ranked Bentley College last week. Franklin Pierce has posted just one Conference win (2-10, 1-10 NE-10) on the road this winter when they topped Merrimack, snapping a string of 11-straight road losses to NE-10 opponents, on February 11. Sunday will mark the 35th meeting between these two former New England Collegiate Conference programs, the fourth in postseason play. After January’s victory, Franklin Pierce holds a 26-8 advantage in the all-time series. The Ravens have never lost to Southern Connecticut in postseason play, posting a 3-0 mark in NECC Tournament action in the ‘90s. The two programs last met in the postseason in the 1999 NECC semifinals as Franklin Pierce posted a 77-56 victory at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse.
In their lone meeting of the season, Franklin Pierce held on down the stretch in posting the 69-66 victory after a Patricia Lang (Monroe, N.H./Saint Johnsbury Academy) lay-in with seven-seconds left in regulation lifted the Ravens to victory. Lang led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on ten-of-12 shooting from the field to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Senior Jennifer Webster (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) registered her third double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-best 15 rebounds. Two Southern players registered double-doubles, led by senior Rebecca Roy’s9 points and 12 rebounds (six offensive). Junior Jessica Kolakoski totaled 16 points, 12 boards and three steals. Franklin Pierce enters the postseason as one of the more dangerous 12-seeds since the NE-10 adopted the 12-team format in 2000-2001. The Ravens have posted wins over six of the 11 teams above them in the standings, including four victories over regionally ranked teams. Franklin Pierce has won three of its last four games, with the lone loss an overtime decision at Assumption College last week. In the Ravens last three wins, they have torched the nets from three-point range, shooting a combined 67.6% (25-37) against Merrimack, Bryant College and American International College. Webster has led the Ravens all season, averaging 18.4 points (2nd NE-10), 7.6 rebounds (8th) and 1.5 steals per game this season. She also ranks ninth among Conference leaders having converted 76.4-percent (120-157) of her free-throw attempts. Webster, who became the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau on February 3, currently ranks 15th all-time with 1,125 career points and her 447 career rebounds are good for 18th all-time. She has totaled a team-best six double-doubles (ten career) this season and led the Ravens in scoring in 17 games, including the last seven-straight, and rebounding ten times. Franklin Pierce has posted a 10-7 record in those contests where she has led its offense.
Junior forward Susan Ocitti (Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge R&L) has teamed with Webster in the frontcourt and is averaging 11.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. She has led the Ravens in rebounding 12 times this season and totaled five double-doubles (12 career). Lang has been the Ravens top backcourt player, averaging 10.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals (9th NE-10). She has hit 44.4% (104-234) of her shots from the field, including 42.2% (27-64) from three-point range (4th), and 84.2% (48-57) of her free throws to lead the team in all three categories. Southern Connecticut enters the postseason winners of two straight and seven if its last nine overall. The Owls are ranked sixth in the most recent NCAA Division II Northeast Regional poll and with 19 wins are likely just one win shy of punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Roy leads Southern, averaging 15.1 points (4th NE-10), 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest. She is shooting 50% (161-322) from the field (9th) and 80.2% (85-106) from the free-throw line (6th) this season. Sophomore Kim Jackle is averaging 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists (7th NE-10) and 2.0 steals per contest. Her 53 three-point field goals are the tops on the team. Junior Jenese Wilcox, a transfer from Providence College, is contributing 12.8 points, 7.6 rebounds (9th NE-10) and 1.7 steals. 2003 Northeast-10
Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals - Final Four - Championship - |
