Feb. 20, 2008

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall turned the tables on Gettysburg, avenging a 23-point loss earlier in the season and easily handling the Bullets the second time around with a 75-59 victory in a Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball game on Wednesday night in the Mayser Center.

With the win, the Diplomats (18-6, 13-4 CC) have clinched a bye in the upcoming CC playoffs and are currently hold the No. 3 spot. Gettysburg (15-9, 11-6 CC) moves into tie for fourth place with McDaniel and need to defeat the Green Terror on Saturday to secure a playoff spot.

Sarah Meisenberg tied a game high with 24 points, going 13-for-15 from the free-throw line. She also led with seven assists and five steals.

Caitlin Moser also tallied 24 points to go with seven rebounds, including an 8-for-12 showing from the charity stripe.

F&M gave the Bullets a taste of their own medicine and produced almost identical numbers from the first half of the first meeting between the two teams. The Diplomats jumped out to a 37-20 lead at halftime and held the Bullets to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field.

Meisenberg put F&M ahead 14-10 at the 12:01 mark and Gettysburg came back with two straight layups, one by Megan Hartman and another by Caroline Funchion to knot the game at 14-all. The Diplomats closed out the half on a 23-6 run for a commanding 17-point halftime lead. Meisenberg scored eight points, while Sara Wolman knocked in two three pointers.

F&M continued to press the action in the second half and held a 23-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play. The Bullets had enough for one final push, slicing the deficit with 13 consecutive points with eight coming from Moser to pull within 10 (58-48) with 6:19 on the clock.

Meisenberg ended the visitor's run with a three pointer and proceeded to nail 7-of-8 free-throw attempts in the final 3:14 to seal the win.

Beth Holt scored 12 points, all in the first half, while Cara Landolfi and Wolman added 11 points apiece.

The Diplomats return to action on Saturday against Dickinson. Game time is 2 p.m.