LANCASTER, PA -- Guard Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) netted 21 points and center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) tallied 15 rebounds, five blocks and eight points as the Franklin & Marshall College women's basketball team swamped the Washington College Shorewomen 77-42 in Centennial Conference action at the Mayser Center.
The game was one sided from the opening tip as the Diplomats rushed to a 10-0 lead in the first 1:45 of the game behind eight points by Tierney, including back-to-back three-pointers. Overall, Tierney finished the game making seven-of-10 from the field, including four-of-five from beyond the arc, and knocked down three-of-four shots at the free-throw line.
For Tierney, the first half belonged to her as she hits six-of-eight from the field, with four three-pointers on five attempts, for 19 points in the opening 20 minutes of the game as Franklin & Marshall College carried a 41-27 lead into halftime.
Conversely, the second half belonged to Abernathy as the preseason All-America center grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked five shots and netted six points as the Diplomats' defense stifled the Shorewomen's offense limiting Washington to 15 second half points on seven-of-29 from the field and one-of-two at the charity stripe.
Overall, Washington finished the game shooting 17-of-59 from the field (28.8%), while the Diplomats wrapped up the contest making 29-of-59 field goal opportunities, including seven-of-11 three-point attempts.
In the first half, Washington sliced the F&M lead to four at 12-8 and 14-10 before Tierney hit a "three" and a lay-up to push the lead out to 19-10. Again, the Shorewomen rallied as Mary Rybikci and Liz Smith knocked down lay-ups before F&M point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) flipped in a lay-up and banked home a three-pointer for a 24-14 lead.
Smith hit a short jumper to move the Shorewomen within eight at 24-16, but Franklin & Marshall countered with a 6-0 run for a 30-16 advantage with 4:36 left in the first half. The teams traded points from there as F&M carried a 41-27 advantage into the locker room.
The Diplomats increased the lead with an 8-0 run to open the second half behind five points from Johns.
Washington struggled from the field in the second half as Jeremy Cook scored a lay-up at the 17:33 mark to cut Franklin & Marshall's lead to 49-29. However, Abernathy blocked three shots over the five minutes while her team registered a 10-0 run to move the lead to 59-29 before LaToya Turner hit a jumper at the 12:48 mark for a 59-31 F&M lead.
Following the basket, the Diplomats engineered a 6-0 run before Jenny Campitelli and Smith hit back-to-back lay-ups to move the Shorewomen within 30 points at 65-35 with 8:31 left on the game clock.
However, Washington could not move within 29 points of F&M as the Diplomats closed out the game with a 12-7 run for the 35-point victory.
Johns finished with 10 points, while Maura Lentz (Jr., Baltimore, MD/Catonsville) and Christy Strunk (So., Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) chipped in seven points off the bench.
For Washington, Lauren Duckworth was the only player to break into double digits as she tallied 10 points, while Yianna Patronas finished with a team high seven rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on January 22 at Dickinson College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
