NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack women’s basketball
team dropped a 76-63 decision to 25th-ranked Franklin Pierce
Tuesday night at the Volpe Gym.
The Ravens shot 46.9% from the field in the first half and drained
five threes in 11 attempts to take a 40-26 lead at halftime.
Johannah Leedham, who leads the Northeast-10 in scoring, tallied 10
in the first half to lead the Ravens, who had seven different
players score in the first 20 minutes.
Amanda Shannon (North Andover, MA) tallied 11 of
Merrimack’s 26 first-half points, as the hosts were outscored
12-4 in the first in the paint.
But the Warriors didn’t quit, as they used a 15-8 run to
start the second half capped off with back-to-back threes from
Shannon and Casey Miller (Fairbanks, AK). The
Ravens answered right back, scoring the next 10 points and going on
a 15-2 run to put the game away.
Shannon led all scorers with 23 points and added a team-high five
assists. Miller tallied 17 on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbed five
boards, while Gennifer Roy (Granby, MA) added 10
points. Hannah DeGraffinreed (Raleigh, NC) showed
why she is one of the top rebounders in the conference as the
freshman grabbed 15 boards.
Leedham, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five
assists, was one of five Ravens in double figures. Kirsten
Doldoorian scored 15 off the bench, while Tori Ahrens controlled
the paint with 14 points and seven boards, five of them on the
offensive glass.
Merrimack (7-16, 6-12 NE-10) begins a two-game road trip at Pace
University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.