WALTHAM, Mass. – After holding off Merrimack College in its home and Northeast-10 Conference opener, the Bentley University women's basketball team will be looking to move to 4-0 overall and 2-0 NE-10 Saturday when it travels to Rindge, N.H. to take on Franklin Pierce University.

Tip off at the FPU Fieldhouse is slated for 4 pm with a link to the webcast and live stats available at www.bentleyfalcons.com.

Bentley escaped Wednesday's encounter with Merrimack with a 68-65 win after a buzzer-beating three-point attempt was off the mark. The Warriors had made their previous six from distance and closed with a 15-6 run to erase most of the 12-point lead the Falcons owned with two minutes to play.

Wednesday's game was senior All-America forward Jen Gemma (Milton/Fontbonne Academy) achieve a couple more milestones as she overtook  former All-America Courtney Finn '14 for eighth on the program's all-time scoring list, surpassed 1,600 career points and moved into fifth in career rebounds (825).

Gemma is averaging 17 points and 6.7 rebounds for a Bentley team that is ranked number one in the D2SIDA media poll and topped all of the preseason rankings.

Her average is second to junior guard Lauren Green (Damascus, Md./Damascus HS), who has hit five threes in each of the last two games. Green is averaging 17.3 points and has a .619 success rate from three (13-21), third best in Division II among players with at least 10 triples.

The unrelated Smiths, both juniors, have also been making solid contributions for the Falcons. Macchi (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School) leads the team in steals (6) and assists (9) while averaging eight points and four rebounds, and Cassie (Edison, N.J./Metuchen HS) has come off the bench to provide 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds a game. She also owns a .533 shooting percentage.

Defensively through three games, Bentley is in the top three in the NE-10 in points allowed (52.0), opponents' field goal percentage (.309), rebound margin (+8.7) and fewest free throws allowed (7.0 per game).

Franklin Pierce, under first-year head coach Jeannette Wedo, will bring a 1-2 record into its inaugural home game of the season. The Ravens have dropped their last two, including 69-53 at St. Michael's Wednesday in their NE-10 opener.

Senior guard Dena Campbell, who scored only 59 points last season, has nearly matched that number this season. She's the Ravens' only double-figure scorer, averaging 16.3 points. Much has come via the long ball as she's buried 10 of 20 from downtown.

Freshman guard Mya Mosley has also had an impact early, averaging 9.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks in her first three collegiate games.

During its final four season of a year ago, Bentley and Franklin Pierce split with each winning at home. The first, played in Waltham, was a low-scoring affair, 60-39, while the second saw the Ravens score more than that in each half for an 87-76 win. Since then, Coach Barbara Stevens' Falcons have won ten straight against East Region opposition.

Bentley will be back at home Tuesday to take on Assumption College.