LANCASTER, PA -- Guard Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) connected on nine-of-16 from the floor for a game high 22 points and center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School - Paris) tallied a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds, but the #4 nationally ranked Bowdoin College Polar Bears (6-0, 0-0 NESCAC) used a 6-0 spurt in the closing minutes of the game to escape the upset attempt by a 65-50 final.
Leading 36-27 at halftime, the Polar Bears saw their lead dwindle to 45-41 with 8:32 left on the clock as Emily Wilson (Sr., Somerset, NJ/Rutgers Prep) dropped in a short jumper.
However, Bowdoin's Eileen Flaherty ignited a 13-4 run by connecting on back-to-back lay-ups before Abernathy added a bucket to make the score 51-43.
Flaherty added to the lead as F&M point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) fouled the 5-11 forward who made both ends of a one-and-one for a 53-43 lead. The margin ballooned to 58-45 before Tierney knocked down a jumper to move within 58-47 with 4:26 to play.
Bowdoin's Alison Smith added a bucket before Tierney drained a trey to slice the Polar Bears lead to 60-50 with 1:50 to go before Bowdoin closed out the game with a three-pointer by Lora Trenkle a free-throws by Lindsay Bramwell and Julia Loonin for the 65-50 final.
Overall, three Polar Bears broke into double-digits as Trenkle tallied 13, Flaherty 12 and Smith 10 as Bowdoin built a 5-2 lead at the opening whistle and never trailed.
The key to the game was turnovers as the Diplomats committed 13 in the first half to account for 22 Polar Bear points, while the Franklin & Marshall comeback attempt was fueled by 11 Bowdoin turnovers for 16 Diplomats' points.
In the first half, Franklin & Marshall closed to within two points at 13-11 with 12:03 to go, but the Bears used a 6-0 run to push the lead to eight before moving ahead by 17 with 6:23 showing on the clock.
Leading 32-16 with 4:56 left following a pair of free throws by Kristina Fugate, the Diplomats used an 8-0 run to close within 32-24 before Smith registered a field goal to move the lead back to 10 points at 34-24. The Diplomats closed out the half with two free throws by Johns and one by Tierney to trail by seven at the break.
With the victory, Bowdoin improves to 29-0 in non-conference, 22-0 in road and 34-0 in regular season games, among the longest streaks in all of NCAA (Division I, II, III) action.
Franklin & Marshall College (3-5, 3-1 Centennial Conference) will return to the court on January 7 on the road at McDaniel College. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.
