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| Bethany Tighe posted her second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. |
No. 24 Ravens Take Down No. 11 Skyhawks, 81-71
Rindge, N.H. - Reigning Division II player of the year Johannah Leedham pumped in 30 points to lead 24th-ranked Franklin Pierce to an 81-71 win over visiting No. 11 Stonehill in a battle for first-place in the Northeast-10 on Wednesday night.
Leedham, who shot 12-for-21 from the field, added five assists and five steals as the Ravens shot 53 percent from the field and 58 percent from behind the arc.
With the win Franklin Pierce (13-3 Northeast-10) takes a one game lead over Stonehill in the Northeast-10 standings (12-4 Northeast-10) with six games left in the regular season.
Stonehill actually jumped out to a five-point lead in the early moments following a pair of three-pointers from Emily Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine) and another from Kristen McWhirter (Melvin Village, N.H.).
The Ravens then embarked on a 21-7 run over the next six minutes to take a 25-16 lead, then scored their next 12 points on layups to up their advantage to 37-25 with less than four minutes left in the half. During that same stretch the Skyhawks went cold, going nearly seven minutes without a basket before they put together hoops on two of their last three possessions to trim the lead to 43-29 at the half.
Neither team did much in the opening minutes of the second half as they combined for four made baskets in the first five minutes of action.
With Franklin Pierce holding its biggest lead of the game at 54-33, Stonehill ran off nine straight points - the final five coming from Bethany Tighe (North Easton, Mass.) - to get to within 12 at 54-42.
Every time the Skyhawks got close, however, the Ravens had answer, this time a pair of triples and two layups upped their advantage back to 17.
Stonehill got as close as nine in the waning moments but Leedham made four straight free throws to seal Franklin Pierce's 16th win of the season.
For the Skyhawks, McWhirter scored a career-best 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting. She added five rebounds, three assists and two steals in her 34 minutes.
Tighe notched her second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Megan Methven (Corning, N.Y.) (13 points, three assists) and Rousseau (11 points, three rebounds and three assists) each recorded double figure efforts.
Stonehill returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Southern New Hampshire while the Ravens host Bentley.