LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall gave Centennial Conference (CC) opponent Ursinus all it could handle, but ultimately came up short in a thrilling 81-72 overtime defeat on Thursday night at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats fell to 4-9, 1-7 CC with the loss, while the Bears improved to 8-5, 5-3 CC.

F&M had momentum on its side heading into overtime after Alexa Barbush found Kristina McCarthy underneath for the game-tying layup as time expired in regulation. The basket knotted the score at 62-62 and sent the Diplomats into their fourth overtime game of the season.

Ursinus stole the momentum, scoring the first 11 points of the period to go up 77-66 with 1:10 remaining. Barbush landed a jumper to pull her team within eight at 78-70 with 23 seconds left, but time ran out on F&M en route to the nine-point defeat.

Heading into halftime, the Diplomats looked to be in control with a 36-27 lead.  F&M maintained a double-digit advantage for much of the second half, and led by 10 at 48-38 with 12:12 left in the game.

The Bears quickly came back to tie the contest, going on a 10-0 run to even the score at 48-48 with 6:19 remaining. From there, the lead changed hands nine times before McCarthy's layup forced extra minutes.

Overall, the score was tied 14 times throughout the contest and the lead was exchanged 16 times.  

Barbush led her team in scoring with 23 points, while McCarthy and Elizabeth Snyder reached double-figures with 17 and 13 respectively.  Colleen Bott pulled in 10 rebounds on the night.

Ursinus shot 53 percent from the field, while the Diplomats shot 43 percent. F&M was strong underneath the basket, outscoring the Bears 44-32 in the paint.

The Diplomats return to the court Saturday to face off against Bryn Mawr in CC action. The contest is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.

URSINUS 81, FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 72

URSINUS (8-5 (5-3 CC))

Diamond Lewis 11-13 3-6 26; Jessica Porada 10-17 2-4 22; Alyssa Polimeni 5-11 4-7 18; Caroline Shimrock 2-5 0-0 4; Amber Yacenda 1-5 1-2 4; Devin Butchko 2-3 0-0 4; Tori Steinberg 1-6 0-0 3; Elana Roadcloud 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 32-60 10-21 81.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (4-9 (1-7 CC))

Alexa Barbush 8-21 7-8 23; Kristina McCarthy 7-14 3-4 17; Elizabeth Snyder 6-15 0-0 13; Hannah Rose Nussbaum 4-7 0-0 8; Emma Lisle 3-5 0-0 6; Emily Wetz 1-1 0-0 3; Colleen Bott 1-6 0-0 2; Kara Bacile 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-70 10-12 72.

Ursinus.......................   27   35   19  -   81

Franklin & Marshall...........   36   26   10  -   72

3-point goals--Ursinus 7-18 (Alyssa Polimeni 4-7; Tori Steinberg 1-5; Diamond Lewis 1-2; Amber Yacenda 1-3; Caroline Shimrock 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 2-6 (Emily Wetz 1-1; Elizabeth Snyder 1-5).  Fouled out--Ursinus-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.

Rebounds--Ursinus 35 (Diamond Lewis 9), Franklin & Marshall 39 (Colleen Bott 10). Assists--Ursinus 15

(Diamond Lewis 6; Alyssa Polimeni 6), Franklin & Marshall 14 (Elizabeth Snyder 4; Alexa Barbush 4).

Total fouls--Ursinus 15, Franklin & Marshall 14.

Technical fouls--Ursinus-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.

A-327