LANCASTER, PA -- Center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) tallied 20 points and 13 rebounds, but four Elizabethtown players broke into double-digits as the Bluejays knocked off Franklin & Marshall 71-62 in women's basketball.
Leading 29-25 at halftime, the Jays' never trailed in the second half as guard Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) drilled a three-pointer with 5:22 left on the clock to knot the game at 55-55, but Cristin Braun dropped in a bucket to put the Jays back in front at 59-57 with 3:42 to play. Again F&M tied the score as point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) hit a jumper at the 3:29 mark, but Jen Roberts answered with a basket at 2:53 to ignite a 5-0 Elizabethtown run to take the lead for good.
Following Roberts' basket, Jessica Hollinshead added a field goal and a free throw to push the lead out to 62-57 with 1:34 left on the clock.
Johns knocked down a pair of free-throws to slice the lead to three with 1:18 to go, but the 'Jays Megan Wolfe and Hollinshead made pairs of free-throws to move the lead out to 66-59 with 50 seconds to go. Tierney drained a long "three" to move F&M within 66-62 with 45 seconds left, but Wolfe registered a free throw before Hollinshead hit a lay-up and two free-throws for the 71-62 final.
Hollinshead led the way for Elizabethtown with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while Wolfe (16), Roberts (14) and Braun (11) broke into double-digits in points to lead the 'Jays (11-7, 4-4 MAC) to their 11th win of the season.
For F&M (8-9, 8-4 CC), Tierney finished with 15 points and Johns added seven to compliment Abernathy's scoring.
The key to the game was the second half play of Hollinshead who connected on seven-of-11 field goal attempts and five-of-six at the charity stripe for 19 points and nine rebounds to lead a Bluejays offense which converted 14-of-28 field goals, two-of-three treys and 12-of-19 free throw attempts to outscore F&M 42-37 over the final 20 minutes of play.
In the first half, Wolfe controlled the game hitting three-of-four field goals, including two-of-two from beyond the arc, and two-of-four at the line for 10 points. In addition, Hollinshead and Roberts added six points and Braun dropped in seven.
For F&M, Tracey Spinner (Sr., Pennington, NJ/Princeton Day), Abernathy and Tierney all tallied six points, while Johns added three and Emily Wilson (Sr., Somerset, NJ/Rutgers Prep) and Amy Hofmann (Sr., Wernersville, PA/Conrad Weiser) chipped in two as the Diplomats trailed by four at the break.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 7 on the road at Ursinus College. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.
