Women’s Basketball Falls To Franklin Pierce, 68-57

By: Pat Longobardi
Forward Marielle Giroud’s 20 points and 17 rebounds led the way for Franklin Pierce as they defeated the Southern women’s basketball 68-57 on Saturday, Jan. 15 in a Northeast-10 Conference game.
Franklin Pierce quickly gained momentum, scoring 10 of the first 11 points in the game, leading 10-1.
They then kept adding to the score with good defense and consistently capitalized on Southern’s missed shots and fouls, leading 22-8.
Southern fought their way back into the game with timely defense. Forward Shelley Pierson made a lay-up with six minutes left to cut the lead to eight, 22-14. Franklin Pierce then called timeout. Pierson added another lay-up with five minutes left, assisted by Moni Smith-Ocran, to cut the lead to eight, 24-16.
Franklin Pierce then fired back on the very next possession with a three pointer by Tiffany Johnson to bring the lead back to double-digits, 27-16.
Franklin Pierce led 32-21 at halftime.
Marielle Giroud was the leading scorer for Franklin Pierce at the break with 14 points and eight rebounds. Lekia Cowen had five points and two assists. Jewel White had five points, five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
Pierson led Southern with eight points and four rebounds at the half. Smith-Ocran had four points, six rebounds, one assist, one block, and two steals.
Franklin Pierce head coach Steve Hancock said the team played well, but was very inconsistent.
“We did a great job on the glass,” said Hancock. “We got out-rebounded the last time and this time we out-rebounded them by 14, which is huge.”
Franklin Pierce out-rebounded Southern for the game, 49-35.
In the second half, Southern hung around early on trying to limit Franklin Pierce from opening up a big lead. Milena Lazarevic made a layup early in the half to cut the lead to nine, 32-23.
Whenever Southern came within single digits, they could not come that much closer. Yet, a three-pointer by Lekia Cowen and a two-pointer by Tiffany Johnson quickly brought the lead back to 14, 37-23.
From that point, Southern had the same results, not getting closer than nine or eleven points before Franklin Pierce expanded beyond that lead.
“They had energy, they had that go-hard mentality,” said Southern head coach Meghan Brown. “We cut it, we made baskets, we are much more capable than how we played.”
Giroud, Cowen and White kept up their strong play in the second half.
Hancock said containing Southern’s Sylvonya Moore was a key factor to the game.
“Cowen played good on Moore as she was a monster against us last time,” said Hancock.
Southern defeated Franklin Pierce, then number 10 nationally ranked, on Dec. 11 in Rindge, NH, 71-60. Moore had 26 points and eight rebounds in victory.
Giroud was the leading scorer for Franklin Pierce. Cowen finished with 12 points. White had 15 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
“We played good, we played good defense, and that is good,” said Giroud. “I played good in the first. I was quiet in the second half, but others stepped up around me.”
Pierson finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two steals for Southern. Keshia Primo also contributed 10 points, and four rebounds
Franklin Pierce went to 12-5 overall, 8-3 in conference. Southern is now 6-10 and 2-9.