LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College point guard Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/Eastern York) scored a game high 26 points in 21 minutes to record the 1,000th point of her career as the Diplomats defeated Elizabethtown College 81-58 in non-conference women's basketball at the Mayser Center.
Historically, Johns became the 13th women's player in program history and the 42nd Diplomat in school history, including 29 men's players, to reach the grand milestone as she joins Anne Krumrine '90 (1,811), Carrie Bowen '93 (1,686), Cathy Belser '90 (1,665), Amy Kreitz '02 (1,651), Laurie Baker '78 (1,502), Amy Abernathy '04 (1,456), Tina Breithaupt '94 (1,293), Wendy Stabolepszy '79 (1,270), Michele Fisher '89 (1,250), Lauren Howanski '02 (1,199), Aurora Gonzalez '97 (1,034) and Chris Ditzler '89 (1,005).
In addition, she raised her career totals to 1,022 points to move into 12th place on the career scoring list at the College, 13 points shy of surpassing Gonzalez for 11th, and now has 239 steals, 277 assists and 156 three-pointers as she ranks first in treys, third in steals and third in assists at Franklin & Marshall.
Overall, Johns connected on 10-of-14 from the field against the Blue Jays, including six-of-nine from beyond the three-point arc, with three defensive rebounds and a steal to lead the Diplomats who improve to 6-13, 3-9 in the Centennial Conference.
Entering the game with 996 career points, Johns pulled to within a basket 66 seconds into the game as she hit a jumper for a 2-0 Franklin & Marshall lead. Leading 8-4, she reached the milestone as hit a baseline jumper with 16:00 left in the first half for her 999th and 1,000th career points.
Elizabethtown came back to game the game following her historic shot with a 6-0 run, but Johns put the Diplomats in front to stay at the 12:31 mark as she drilled the first of her six three-pointers for a 13-10 lead. The Bluejays Megan Quinn put in a lay-up at 12:06 to pull Elizabethtown to within a point, but Johns connected on her second three-pointer to ignite a 13-7 run to go ahead 26-19. Elizabethtown was unable to cut the lead below five points the rest of the way as F&M recorded a 15-6 run to close out the half and carry a 41-25 lead into halftime.
Leading by as many as 29 points in the second half, the Diplomats coasted to the win as Elizabethtown fell to 8-11, 4-5 in the Middle Atlantic Corporation Commonwealth Conference.
For F&M, all of the Diplomats' game-eligible players scored as guard Sarah Meisenberg (Fr., Severna Park, MD/Severn School) came off the bench to tally 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals, while forwards Emily Weaver (Sr., Prince Frederick, MD/Calverton) and Brittany Braxton (So., Pearl River, NY/Nanuet) dropped in eight points apiece with six and five rebounds, respectively.
Erin Walton led Elizabethtown with 14 points as all but one of the Bluejays' players scored in the game. Claire Davis added nine points, while Quinn chipped in seven points, Audrey Hitz added six points and 10 rebounds and Dana Voit tacked on five points and seven rebounds.
The win improves the Diplomats to 15-21 all-time against Elizabethtown in women's basketball and snaps a two game losing streak to the Bluejays dating back to a 70-60 win on January 8, 2003 in Elizabethtown. The last time F&M defeated Elizabethtown in Lancaster was January 7, 2002 as the Diplomats recorded an 81-60 victory behind 19 points and 20 rebounds by Abernathy.
Franklin & Marshall (6-13, 3-9 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on February 4 at home versus Bryn Mawr College in Centennial Conference play. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m.
