COLLEGEVILLE, PA -- Guard Courtney Tierney (Sr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) knocked down 11-of-23 attempts from the field, including five-of-12 from long range, as the Franklin & Marshall College women's basketball team rolled to an 80-69 victory at Ursinus College.
Tierney's performance marks the most points scored by a Diplomat this year bettering the previous high of 25 by center Amy Abernathy (Sr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) established in a 78-73 loss to York College on November 22 in the season opener. In addition, Tierney dished out a game high seven assists.
Leading 40-37 at halftime, F&M (9-9, 9-4 Centennial Conference) pushed the lead out to 12 at 57-45 with 14:19 to play behind a pair of treys from Tierney.
The Bears fired back, however, with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to seven before point guard Dana Johns (So., York, PA/Eastern York) hit a jumper to put the margin back at nine. Following a pair of free throws by Molly Guntli to slice the lead to 59-52 with 11:23 left on the clock, forward Lauren Dodrill (Jr., Timonium, MD/Roland Park) hit a jumper to move the lead back to nine.
Ursinus' Alison Walker answered drilling a three-pointer from the top of the arc to cut the lead to 61-56 before Guntli made the front-end of a pair of free throws by a 61-56 game with 8:20 left on the game clock.
The two teams traded baskets before Tierney swished a "three" to push the lead back to eight at 68-60 with 5:57 to go which broke the Bears. Guntli made a pair of free throws to move the lead back to six, but Tracey Spinner (Sr., Pennington, NJ/Princeton Day) converted a pair of shots at the charity stripe and Tierney split the Ursinus' defense for a lay-up to finish off a 4-0 run which put the lead at 72-62 with 3:44 on the clock.
After Ursinus' Mary Kate Daley registered a pair of free throws to put her team within eight points of tying F&M and forcing overtime, Abernathy and Johns took over the final three minutes of the game.
Abernathy finished a feed from Tierney for a lay-up and registered blocks on two straight Bears' possessions before banking in a jumper to keep the lead at 10 points. Johns finished off the scoring as she converted four-of-six free throws down the stretch for the 11-point victory.
A key to the game was the Diplomats' ball movement as F&M registered a season high 24 assists on 31 field goals, including 12 on 14 field goals in the second half. In addition, Dodrill led the team with 14 rebounds, including eight offensive, as Franklin & Marshall held a 20-13 advantage on the offensive glass.
For Franklin & Marshall, Abernathy finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots in limited minutes due to foul trouble for her 13th double-double of the season, while Johns and Dodrill added 16 and eight, respectively, as the Diplomats remain one game ahead of Swarthmore College for fourth place in the CC standings.
Guntli led Ursinus with 23 points, while Daley added 22 and Walker chipped in 10 as the Bears fall to 7-12 on the year, 4-9 in Centennial Conference play.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 10 at home versus Dickinson College. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Mayser Center.
