LANCASTER, Pa. – Beth Holt's two treys sparked a 15-1 first half scoring run for Franklin & Marshall to help lift the Diplomats to a 68-48 win over Swarthmore Saturday in a Centennial Conference (CC) game. The Diplomats improved to 5-2 CC and 7-5 overall while the Garnet dropped to 4-2, 8-3.

Trailing 23-11 with 11 minutes left in the first half, F&M exploded for 15 points to go ahead 26-24 with 4:35 left in the game. Holt game off of the bench to nail two baskets from behind the arc, and a free throw, in the run while Kristina McCarthy added six and Alexa Barbush knocked in two points.  

Swarthmore knotted the contest at 26 a few seconds later but the Diplomats answered again with a 9-0 run to head into halftime up 35-26. Emma Lisle scored four points, Holt three and Barbush two in the final 3:35 of the half

Franklin & Marshall scored 16 points off of Garnet turnovers in the first half and netted 11 second-chance points.

Allison Bauer and Barbush both scored four points in the opening five minutes of the second half, and Collen Bott added a bucket, to give the Diplomats a 45-29 lead.  The Diplomats' lead never went below 13 points in the second half and went as high as 20 in the final minute of play.

Barbush paced the Diplomats with 19 points added four assists and grabbed seven boards. Holt finished with 14 points and five assists while McCarthy chipped in with 10 points and team-high nine boards.

The Diplomats return to the Mayser Center Tuesday hosting Ursinus in a Centennial Conference game at 7 p.m.