LANCASTER, Pa. – Balanced scoring across the board led the Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team over Haverford, 64-51, in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats swept the series and improved to 13-6, 10-4 CC while the Ford's fell to 13-6, 8-6 CC.
The Diplomats led for the better part of the first half with three lead changes, the first coming at the 12:41 mark when the Fords Rachel Baskin hit a trey to put Haverford up by three. Just 10 seconds later, F&M responded with an Emma Lisle lay-up to bring the Diplomats within one, 11-10. Megan Pauley forced a turnover on the Fords' next possession and went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to put F&M up by one, 12-11.
The Fords came right back down the court and drained a three-pointer to go up by two, 14-12. Kristina McCarthy grabbed a steal on Haverford's next possession and dished the ball to Allison Bauer, who set up Colleen Bott to bring the score to 14 a piece.
Haverford turned the ball over on their next trip down the court with Bauer capitalizing by hitting a three-pointer to give the Diplomats the go ahead, 17-14, at 10:23. F&M would continue its dominance throughout the rest of the half taking a 12 point lead into the break, 35-23.
F&M picked up right where it left off in the second half, leading by as much as 14 in the early going. At the 12:40 mark the Fords went on an 8-2 run to pull within four of the Diplomats, 45-41, at 9:29. F&M did not allow Haverford to hang around long as it went on a 13-2 run with 8:40 left in the period. The Diplomats led by as many as 15 down the stretch en route to the victory.
Alexa Barbush and Pauley both scored a high-game 14 points with Barbush adding a game-high five assists. Pauley grabbed seven rebounds with four assists. McCarthy recorded her sixth double-double this year, netting 13 and pulling down a game-high 11 boards. Elizabeth Snyder contributed nine points while Bauer dropped in eight points.
Jacquelyne Pizzuto paced the Fords with 12 points while Victoria Sobocinski scored 11. Baskin tallied seven while grabbing seven boards in the loss.
F&M returns to action Monday travel to Washington in CC action, tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.