Jan. 4, 2008

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Sarah Meisenberg was just one of four players in double figures for the Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team, scoring a game-high 18 points and dishing out a career-high nine assists to lead the Diplomats over Manhattanville 73-66 in the first round of the Marymount Christmas Tournament on Friday afternoon.

F&M (6-3) opened the new year with its sixth win of the season and advancing to the title match tomorrow at 5 p.m. against the winner of Marymount and UMass-Darthmouth.

Brittany Braxton went 8-for-11 for 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. The Diplomats recorded 32 bench points, including 14 from Amanda Miceli and 12 by Cara Landolfi.

The Valiants (5-4) were led by Olivia Nastasi with 18 points and Jess Delagrange was the only other player in double figures with 11.

Manhattanville opened up the scoring with jumpers from Delagrange and Nastasi, but F&M went on an 11-0 run to take the lead that would not relinquish. Janice Kane made two from the line and Nastasi drove in for the layup to make it 11-8.

Braxton sandwiched two layups between a Meisenberg jumper to take a 19-9 lead with 10:55 remaining. Just when Manhattanville got close at 21-19, the Diplomats used a 6-0 spurt to go ahead 27-19.

The see-saw battle continued in the first half, with F&M keeping an edge and the Valiants getting within two points twice. The Diplomats closed out the opening stanza with yet another run, this time 7-1 thanks to five points from Meisenberg for a 39-31 lead at halftime.

In the second half, F&M darted out to a 45-35 lead in the first three minutes. Landolfi and Miceli combined for the 10 points before Meisenberg connected on a layup at 51-41. The closest Manhattanville would get is five points with 10 seconds left in the game.

Alison Menna tallied a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with six points and two blocks for the Diplomats.