LANCASTER, PA -- Center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) scored 22 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked a season high nine shots to flirt with a triple-double and lead the Franklin & Marshall College women's basketball team to a 62-37 win over Dickinson College in the Mayser Center.
For Abernathy, her nine blocked shot performance marks the second most in Centennial Conference history tying a mark accomplished four times. Most recently, Ursinus' Kate Shearer achieved the feat on December 6, 2001 versus Moravian College as the total fell one blocked shot short of the CC (Heidi Snyder, McDaniel vs. Washington, 2-9-95) and Franklin & Marshall (Anne Krumrine, vs. Ursinus, 2-4-89) single game record of 10 blocks in a contest.
In addition, Abernathy's performance raised her single season total to 80 as she is now within four of resetting the CC record of 83 established by Ursinus' Lauren Dorsey (1997), Bryn Mawr's Emilie Brondyke (1996) and Snyder (1995). Further, she is within 13 blocks of surpassing the school record as Krumrine swatted 92 shots in 1989.
The third women's player in F&M history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career, Abernathy now has 1,389 points, 1,073 rebounds and 238 blocked shots as she is sixth in scoring, third in rebounding and second in blocked shots in F&M history. In addition, she is third in blocked shots, fifth in rebounding and 10th in scoring in Centennial Conference history.
Against Dickinson, she keyed the Diplomats' offense in the second half as she connected on seven-of-10 shots for 14 points while reeling in nine rebounds and swatting five shots as Franklin & Marshall outscored the Red Devils' 38-18 down the stretch for the 25 point victory.
Leading 24-19 at halftime, F&M opened the second half with a 7-0 run as point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) arched in a three-pointer before Abernathy converted on back-to-back lay-ups for a 31-19 lead with 17:46 left on the clock.
Dickinson kept the lead at 10 before Piper Estess hit a jumper and Jessica Howard drained a pair of free throws to slice the margin to seven at 39-32 with 11:58 left.
The teams exchanged baskets as forward Lauren Dodrill (Jr., Timonium, MD/Roland Park) hit a sky-hook and Allyson Teatom knocked down a short jumper to keep the lead at seven points.
However, the Red Devils' defense could not keep up with the Franklin & Marshall offense as F&M reeled off a 13-0 run fueled by four points from guard Emily Wilson (Sr., Somerset, NJ/Rutgers Prep) and Abernathy to take a 54-34 lead with 3:52 left on the game clock to coast to the 25 point win.
Overall, Dodrill added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Johns and Wilson chipped in nine points as Franklin & Marshall shot 45.5% from the field (25-for-55) to improve to 10-9 on the year, 10-4 in Centennial Conference play.
For Dickinson (10-9, 7-7 CC), Teatom led the Devils with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Estess added nine points.
The keys to the game were the Diplomats' defensive pressure and rebounding as the Red Devils shot 18.2% from the field (12-for-66) while failing to connect on a three-pointer (0-for-nine), while Franklin & Marshall pulled down 33 defensive rebounds to Dickinson's 25 offensive boards.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 14 at home versus Swarthmore College. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Mayser Center.
