Rindge, N.H. (January 17) -- In a wire-to-wire victory on Tuesday evening, the No. 24 ranked Assumption women's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack to cruise to a 67-46 road win over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference play. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Assumption against Franklin Pierce, including a 90-75 Raven victory in the Northeast-10 Tournament Semifinals last season. The Hounds dropped four spots to No. 24 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Poll, while the Ravens were again receiving votes in the poll.

Assumption got the offense going early on a pull-up jumper from junior Katy Howard (Medway, Mass./Medway) and built to an early 12-11 lead with 14:55 left. The Hounds continued their offensive outburst, putting together a 10-0 run that was capped by a three from freshman Katie Cullerot (Hampton, N.H./John Stark) to take a double-digit advantage at 22-11 with 8:47 on the clock. The Hounds held the double-digit edge for the remainder of the half before taking a 29-14 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Hounds led by as many as 30 points at 52-22 with 13:21 remaining after a pair of free throws from Howard. Franklin Pierce put together runs of 8-0 and 9-0 in the second half, but the Hounds led by at least 18 points in the half for the win.

Howard tied her career high with 25 points, including 5-for-6 shooting from three-point land, to lead all scorers. With her 16-point effort, senior All-American candidate Kelly Meredith (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) has now moved into fifth place on the Assumption all-time scoring list with 1,416 points. Gabrielle Gibson (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) also finished with 11 points off the bench, along with seven points from Cullerot in her first career start. Freshman Caitlin Ackerman (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) also made her first career start, finishing with four points and two assists.

Marielle Giroud and Jasmyra Saunders led the Ravens with 12 points each, along with 10 points from Brittany Martelle. The Hounds held Jewel White, the second-leading scorer in the Northeast-10, to zero points and just three shot attempts in 27 minutes of action.

With the win, Assumption improves to 12-4 overall and 9-3 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens fall to 11-5 overall and 8-4 in the league. The Hounds now sit in a fourth-place tie with Southern New Hampshire after the Penmen fell at home to Pace.

Assumption is back in action on Saturday, January 21 as the Hounds host UMass Lowell for a 1:30 p.m. start at Laska Gym. That game is available live online at www.assumptiongreyhounds.tv.