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ALBANY, N.Y. - The College of Saint Rose cut a 20-point second half deficit to two before falling 78-74 to visiting Franklin Pierce this afternoon at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.
 
Senior guard Ashley Vanderwall topped the Golden Knights (10-7/3-7 NE10) with 20 points. Junior forward Leah Dollard added 16 points on 58.3 percent shooting, while senior guard Isa Vara de Rey filled up the box score, contributing 11 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds in the Northeast-10 Conference setback.
 
Franklin Pierce (3-12/1-9 NE10) received a game-high 24 points from sophomore guard Sophia Holmes. She was one of three Ravens to score in double figures in the Saturday matinee. Freshman forward Lisa Sulejmani recorded 15 points and freshman forward Izzy Lipinski tossed in 14 points and six rebounds.
 
The visiting Ravens scored 16 of the first 19 points en route to a 27-14 advantage after the opening period. Franklin Pierce stretched its lead to as many as 18 during the second quarter. Saint Rose, which shot 61.5 percent from the field in the second quarter, closed the half on a 9-3 run to trail 45-34 at the intermission.
 
Franklin Pierce began the second half strong, using an 11-2 jaunt to hold a 56-36 lead with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter.  From there, Saint Rose tilted momentum its way. The Golden Knights ended the period on a 12-2 run to make it a 10-point, 58-48, game going to the fourth.
 
The Raven advantage continued to dwindle as the league contest wore on. Dollard knocked down a jumper off a Vara de Rey dish with 6:04 left to cap a 21-4 Saint Rose run across 9:57. The outburst made it 60-57 and forced Franklin Pierce to use a timeout. Sulejmani converted a layup from Holmes off the stoppage to cut the Black and Gold rally. She proceeded to swish a jumper on the next Raven possession to give the visitors some breathing room. Franklin Pierce eventually increased its lead to 10, 69-59, with 3:19 to go.
 
Saint Rose continued to press on in its attempt to complete the comeback. Vanderwall earned three the hard way twice in the final 30 seconds to make it 74-72 with nine seconds remaining. After sophomore guard Hannah Everidge went 2-of-2 at the line, sophomore forward Nina Fedullo answered with layup from Vara de Rey to again make it a two-point affair. A loose-ball scramble off the ensuing inbounds concluded with Holmes being fouled with less than a second on the clock. She converted both foul shots for the final margin.            
 
Both teams have road NE10 games on Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm. Saint Rose heads to Manchester, N.H. to take on Southern New Hampshire. Fans that are that are unable to attend the game can follow all the action live on NE10 Now or follow along with live stats. Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce plays at Southern Connecticut State.

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Cancer Awareness Day: Saint Rose once again helped fight cancer by making a charitable contribution to two great causes following each of today's basketball games. The College's Athletics Department donated the ticket proceeds from today's women's game to Camp Bravehearts in honor of former Golden Knights player Ariel Davis ('07) who passed away this past October following her brave battle with breast cancer. Proceeds from the men's game were donated to the V. Foundation for Cancer Research in honor of former player John Pesce ('86) who passed away in 2015 following a courageous fight against brain cancer.

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Notes: Saint Rose received a vote in this week's D2SIDA East Regional Poll…Vanderwall was named to Monday's NE10 weekly honor roll.  Sign up for our E-Newsletter for the latest news by clicking here, and for information on the Golden Knights Club, click here. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.