LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) scored 17 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and swatted seven blocked shots to fall three blocks shy of her second-straight triple double, but McDaniel College picked up its 20th win of the season courtesy a 78-61 defeat of F&M.
Her performance raised her single season block total to 97 as she reset the F&M single school record of 92 blocks established by Anne Krumrine 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 1,419 points, 1,103 rebounds and 255 blocked shots as she is sixth in scoring, third in rebounding and second in blocked shots in F&M history.
Against McDaniel, she connected on five-of-15 field goal chances and seven-of-12 at the free throw line as the Diplomats (11-10, 11-5 Centennial Conference) shot 32.3% from the field (21-of-65), 22.7% from beyond the arc (five-of-22) and 53.8% at the charity stripe (14-of-26) for the game
Overall, guard Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) led the way with 22 points off eight-of-21 shooting, including four-of-12 from beyond the arc, and two-of-three at the free throw line. Point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) added 10 points and a game high five assists, while Tracey Spinner (Sr., Pennington, NJ/Princeton Day) and Amy Hofmann (Sr., Wernersville, PA/Conrad Weiser) chipped in six and four points, respectively.
The loss decreases F&M's lead over Swarthmore College to two games with two contests remaining in the race for the fourth and final Centennial Conference playoff berth as the Garnet defeated Washington 59-47. The Diplomats could clinch the playoff berth with either a win or a Swarthmore loss over the remaining two games.
For McDaniel, Toby McIntire led four Green Terror scorers in double-digits as Kelly Cramp (12 points), Kristy Costa (14 points & 10 rebounds) and Amy Watson (10 points) keyed an offense which shot 44.9% from the field (31-of-69), 20.0% from beyond the arc (two-of-10) and 77.8% at the free throw line (14-of-18) to improve to 20-3 on the year, 16-1 in Centennial Conference play.
Trailing 14-10 with 13:54 remaining in the first half, the Green Terror took control of the game as Brooke Weimer and Watson hit back-to-back jumpers to knot the score. Costa converted a pair of free throws before Watson and Costa connected on back-to-back lay-ups off F&M turnovers for a 20-14 lead with 11:35 remaining in the half. Johns drained a three-pointer to cut the Green Terror lead to 20-17, but McDaniel countered as Costa hit back-to-back-to-back lay-ups to ignite a 12-0 run in which Weimer, Katy Powell and Watson chipped in lay-ups for a 32-17 lead with 5:30 left until intermission. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way as the Terror carried a 42-27 lead into halftime.
In the second half, F&M chipped the margin down to nine at 44-35 with 15:40 remaining in the game following a pair of free throws by Abernathy. However, the Terror countered as Weimer banked in a three-pointer before Allison Biggs tallied a lay-up for a 49-35 lead with 90 seconds later. Abernathy added a lay-up to trim the lead back to 12 at 49-37, but McIntire and Sara Franz tallied lay-ups to move the lead back to 16 points with 13:31 to play
Trailing 66-48 with six minutes remaining, F&M attempted a comeback attempt as Abernathy connected on a lay-up to ignite an 8-2 run in which the senior center registered seven points to slice the Terror margin to 68-56 with 2:18 on the game clock.
The remainder of the game was decided at the free throw line as McDaniel made nine-of-11 shots down the stretch to hold off F&M and record the 17-point victory.
Franklin & Marshall College will continue the season on February 21 at Washington College. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
