LANCASTER, PA - Center Celeste Baumgardner scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds to earn Most Valuable Player honors as the Widener University Pioneers (2-0) rallied to defeat Franklin & Marshall College (1-1) 73-67 in the title game of the 18th Annual Franklin & Marshall Women's Collegiate Tip-Off Tournament at the Mayser Center.
For the tournament, she finished with 46 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, one block and three steals as she tallied 26 points, five boards, three assists and a steal in an 86-54 win over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on November 19 to advance to a title game showdown with the host Diplomats.
Leading 36-27 at halftime, the Diplomats saw their lead trimmed to a point in the first two minutes of the second half as Dominique Kidd drained a three-pointer at 19:07, Kelly Guarrera dropped in a lay-up and a foul shot at 18:52 and Chelsea Luhta made a pair of free throws to pull Widener to within a foul shot of tying the game
Franklin & Marshall responded with a 5-0 run as forward Maxie Estes (Fr., East Lyme, CT/Lyme-Old Lyme) put back a missed shot and forward Joanna DiPallo (Fr., Dublin, PA/Pennridge) drained a three-pointer to stake F&M to a 41-35 lead. The Pioneers countered as Kidd hit a three and Luhta flipped in a lay-up to pull Widener back to within a point before Estes knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead back to four points.
Franklin & Marshall added to the lead with a 9-4 run to lead by nine at 53-44 before the Pioneers chipped the lead down to 53-50 as Megan Sipple made a jumper, Kidd connected on a lay-up and Baumgardner broke an 0-for-five run stretch in the second half with 9:54 to play.
The Diplomats gained some breathing room as guard Christy Strunk (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa/North Allegheny) made a lay-up and added a foul shot for a 56-50 lead. The margin grew to seven at 59-52 before Widener began its comeback as Linette Babiarz made a lay-up, Luhta made two pairs of free throws, while Baumgardner and Kidd converted on free throws to account for an 8-2 run as the Pioneers pulled to within 61-60 with 4:13 left on the clock.
Strunk made a lay-up to give F&M a 63-60 lead at 3:22, but Baumgardner and Kidd hit back-to-back buckets at 2:43 and 2:10, respectively, to give Widener a 64-63 lead.
Forward Emily Weaver (Sr., Prince Frederick, MD/Calverton) tipped in a missed shot at 1:37 to put F&M back in front 65-64, but Baumgardner rebounded a missed shot and laid in a bucket at 1:14 as the Pioneers regained the lead at 66-65.
Luhta finished the scoring for Widener as she made seven-of-eight free throws over the final minute of play, while guard Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/Eastern York) knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe for the Diplomats' last points of the game as the Pioneers held on for the six point victory.
Overall, Johns led the Diplomats with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes, while Weaver added six points and four rebounds as both players were named to the All-Tournament team.
For Widener, Luhta joined Baumgardner on the All-Tournament team as she scored 14 points with eight rebounds and three steals while making four-of-six from the field, one-of-three from beyond the arc and 15-of-16 at the charity stripe, including 13-of-14 free throws in the second half.
The loss marks the second time in the tournament's 18-year history that Widener defeated Franklin & Marshall in the title game as the Pioneers recorded an 82-70 win in the 1999 tournament. In 2000, the Diplomats returned the favor defeating Widener 80-71 as Franklin & Marshall is now 12-12 all-time against the Pioneers.
In the consolation game, All-Tournament selection Kerri Augenstein scored eight points as the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Corsairs (1-1) defeated Elmira College (0-2) 65-51.
For UMass, guard Ashley Chard scored 14 points to lead three players in double digits as forwards Lisa Satkevich and Vasiliki Palantzas chipped in 10 points apiece as the Corsairs built a 34-22 halftime lead and never looked back.
All-Tournament selection Bridget Catanese scored five points and pulled down six rebounds to lead Elmira, while guard Sarah Cote tacked on 11 points in the loss.
UMass trailed for 20 seconds in the game as Catanese hit a free throw at 19:25 before Satkevich made a lay-up to put the Corsairs in front 2-1. Elmira tied the score on another free throw, but Chard drained a three-pointer to ignite a 15-5 run as UMass went ahead to stay.
Elmira cut the lead to six points at 19-13 with 6:13 left in the first half, but the Corsairs countered with a 10-3 run to build the lead to 13 points before the teams exchanged baskets for a 12 points UMass lead at halftime.
The Corsairs opened the second half with a 6-0 run as Palantzas, Chard and Augenstein made lay-ups for a 40-22 lead with 17:55 left on the clock. The Soaring Eagles then went on an 11-4 run to slice the lead to 11 points at 44-33 with 12:07 showing on the clock, but Elmira failed to move within seven points of the Corsairs as UMass held on for the 14 point win.
Franklin & Marshall College (1-1) will continue the season on November 22 at Gettysburg College in the Centennial Conference season opener. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
2005 F&M Tip-Off All-Tournament Team
Celeste Baumgardner - Widener (MVP)
Chelsea Luhta - Widener
Dana Johns - Franklin & Marshall
Emily Weaver - Franklin & Marshall
Kerri Augenstein - UMass-Dartmouth
Bridget Catanese - Elmira
