LANCASTER, Pa. -- With its 61-49 win over Ursinus Wednesday night in the first round of the Centennial Conference playoffs, Franklin & Marshall won its first ever CC playoff game. The Diplomats were o-for-7 in previous trips in the 18-year history of the conference playoffs.

The win advanced F&M to Saturday's semifinal opposite No. 1 seed Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The Diplomats tip off at 3 p.m. following the 1 p.m. semifinal game featuring Gettysburg and Muhlenberg.

Both teams traded scores in the first eight minutes of the game which led to a 9-9 stalemate with 11:48 left. The Diplomats used a 10-2 run to lead 19-11 and would never trail in the game. Elizabeth Snyder drained a pair of threes, Kristina McCarthy hit a layup and Alexa Barbush sank two free throws in the run. Amber Yacenda's second free throw got the Bears within five, 21-16, with 5:22 left in the half. F&M closed out the period with an 8-2 run to lead 29-18 at the break.

The Diplomats benefitted from 14 points in the paint and nine points from their bench in the first half. Snyder netted seven points in the half and Barbush six.

Ursinus would cut its deficit to nine, 32-23, early in the second half before a Megan Pauley-led run put F&M ahead 43-25 with 11:44 left in the game. Pauley scored five points in the 11-2 run while McCarthy, Snyder and Allison Bauer each added two points. Snyder's conventional three-point play two minutes later gave F&M its largest lead of the game, 48-27. The Bears would get only as close as 10 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Snyder led the Diplomats with a game-high 18 points. She was 2-of-3 from behind the arc, 6-of-11 from the field, 4-of-5 from the line and added eight rebounds. Pauley recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Barbush hit double figures in her 17th game this season with 10 points and Bauer finished with seven points, five assists and four rebounds.

Seniors Alison Menna and Amy Chabitnoy, playing in the their final game at Mayser Center, scored six and three points. Menna pulled down eight rebounds and Chabitnoy grabbed five.

Lindsay Teuber paced Ursinus with 14 points.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 61, URSINUS 49

URSINUS (15-11, 11-9 CC)
Lindsay Teuber 5-14 4-5 14; Amber Yacenda 2-5 3-4 9; Jaclyn Hilf 3-13 0-0 8;
Diamond Lewis 2-5 3-4 7; Sarah Martin 1-8 4-5 6; Kristy George 1-3 0-2 3;
Jen Sroba 1-3 0-0 2; Alex Shivers 0-7 0-0 0; Alli Rosati 0-3 0-0 0; Devin
Butchko 0-1 0-0 0; Jackie Thomas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-63 14-20 49.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (14-12, 11-9 CC)
Elizabeth Snyder 6-11 4-5 18; Megan Pauley 5-11 2-2 13; Alexa Barbush 3-8
4-5 10; Allison Bauer 3-6 1-2 7; Alison Menna 3-7 0-0 6; Kristina McCarthy
2-8 0-0 4; Amy Chabitnoy 1-4 1-4 3; Emily Johnson 0-0 0-0 0; Emma Lisle 0-4
0-0 0. Totals 23-59 12-18 61.

Ursinus.......................   18   31  -   49
Franklin & Marshall...........   29   32  -   61

3-point goals--Ursinus 5-14 (Jaclyn Hilf 2-5; Amber Yacenda 2-3; Kristy
George 1-1; Alli Rosati 0-1; Jackie Thomas 0-1; Sarah Martin 0-1; Diamond
Lewis 0-2), Franklin & Marshall 3-8 (Elizabeth Snyder 2-3; Megan Pauley 1-4;
Allison Bauer 0-1).

Fouled out--Ursinus-None, Franklin & Marshall-Kristina McCarthy.

Rebounds--Ursinus 39 (Alex Shivers 7), Franklin & Marshall 54 (Megan Pauley 13).

Assists--Ursinus 5 (Amber Yacenda 2; Jaclyn Hilf 2), Franklin & Marshall 14 (Allison Bauer 5).

Total fouls--Ursinus 18, Franklin & Marshall 19.

Technical fouls--Ursinus-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.
A-433