CHESTERTOWN, MD -- Franklin & Marshall College center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) scored 20 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and swatted six blocked shots as the women's basketball team downed Washington College 63-42 to clinch the fourth and final Centennial Conference playoff berth.
The victory ensures F&M's first trip to the postseason since 2002 as Franklin & Marshall will travel to the #1 seed for the playoffs on February 28-29. The Diplomats will begin the tournament against either McDaniel or Johns Hopkins University at 4:00 p.m. as the Green Terror and Blue Jays are locked in a battle to see who will clinch the #1 seed and hosting rights.
Overall, F&M (12-10, 12-5 Centennial Conference) entered the contest with Washington holding a two-game lead over Swarthmore for the final playoff spot and eliminated the Garnet from consideration as both teams have only one game remaining.
Against the Shorewomen (7-17, 3-14 CC), the Diplomats faced a spirited challenge in the first half as Washington jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) drained a three-pointer to slice the lead to one-point. Washington pushed the lead back to three points at 8-5 and before Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) banked in a "three" to knot the score before tallying a lay-up at the 15:23 mark to give the Diplomats their first lead of the game.
Washington ran off a 4-0 spurt in which Liz Smith hit a jumper and Yianna Patronas connected on a pair of free throws to put the Shorewomen back in front by two.
Tierney countered draining a three-pointer off an assist from Johns to put F&M in front 13-12 with 12:22 left in the half. The lead ballooned to six less than three minutes later as Ann Parker (Sr., Baltimore, MD/Notre Dame) found an open Tierney who drilled another "trey" for a 16-12 advantage before Tierney corralled a missed shot by Abernathy and converted a lay-up for an 18-12 lead with 10:12 until intermission.
Washington trimmed the lead back to two as LaToya Turner and Megan Hartzell connected on baskets before Tracey Spinner (Sr., Pennington, NJ/Princeton Day) chipped in a lay-up to push the lead back to four.
Turner dropped in a jumper and Hartzell made the back-end of a one-and-one to move the Shorewomen within a point at 20-19 with 6:10 left in the half before Johns fired in a three-pointer off a feed from Abernathy for a 23-19 lead at the 5:54 mark.
But, Washington returned the favor as Liz Smith made the front-end of a one-and-one and Hartzell made a pair of free throws to move the Shorewomen back to within a point at 23-22 at 4:43. Twenty-one seconds later and Amy Hofmann (Sr., Wernersville, PA/Conrad Weiser) flipped in a lay-up to ignite an 11-0 run to end the half.
Leading 25-23 following Hofmann's lay-up, F&M saw their lead grow as Abernathy hit a lay-up and a foul shot for a 28-22 margin at 2:17. Hofmann added a pair of free throws at 1:57 for a 30-22 lead before Abernathy dropped in a lay-up at 1:05 for a 32-22 margin. The Diplomats closed out the half with eight seconds remaining as Hofmann finished a Parker feed for a lay-up and a 34-22 lead at the break.
The story of the half was Tierney who connected on three-of-four three-point attempts and four-of-six field goal attempts for 11 points. Overall, the Diplomats were electric from beyond the arc draining five-of-nine three point attempts (55.6%) while holding the Shorewomen to only eight-of-26 from the field (30.8%).
In the second half, the lead grew to 14 points as Abernathy hit a lay-up 19 seconds in off a missed jumper by Tierney for a 36-22 lead. However, Washington ran off a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to nine points as Hartzell connected on a lay-up and Patronas drained a "three" with 18:13 left in the game.
The teams exchanged baskets and free throws over the next nine minutes before Smith made a lay-up and free throw to trim F&M's lead back to 45-38 with 7:56 on the clock. Tierney countered by making a lay-up and free throw of her own to push the lead back to 10 points, but Hartzell and Smith hit back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead back to six points at 48-42 with 5:40 to go.
Needing a run to put the game away and clinch a spot in the postseason, F&M responded as Abernathy made a lay-up to ignite a 15-0 rampage in which the Diplomats' defense held Washington to seven field goal attempts to lock up the 63-42 win and a playoff berth.
Overall, Abernathy finished eight-of-20 from the field and four-of-four at the charity stripe as she raised her single season blocked shot total to 103, a Franklin & Marshall and Centennial Conference single season record.
The third women's player in F&M history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career, Abernathy now has 1,439 points, 1,117 rebounds and 261 blocked shots as she surpassed Tina Breithaupt '94 for second in rebounding in school history. In addition, she ranks sixth in scoring and second in blocked shots in F&M history.
Tierney finished with 14 points and Johns added 15 points while both tallied a game high four assists to pace F&M's attack.
For Washington, Smith made four-of-14 from the field and four-of-eight from the free throw line to lead the team with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 24 at Johns Hopkins University. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.
