ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall could not overcome a 17-point first-half deficit en route to a 64-47 loss against Muhlenberg on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action. The loss dropped the Diplomats' record to 3-11, 1-6 CC, while the Mules improved to 7-6, 4-3 CC.

The contest was close in the early going as the game was tied 4-4 with 17:34 left in the first. From there, F&M was held scoreless for four minutes of action as Muhlenberg put together a 10-0 spurt to take a 14-4 lead with 14:24 to go in the opening half.

The Diplomats fought back and got to within five points at 16-11 with 10:47 to go, but the Mules went on a 24-8 run over eight minutes of play to take a 40-19 lead with 2:14 left in the first. Hannah Rose Nussbaum drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, but the Diplomats faced a 42-25 deficit heading into intermission.

Muhlenberg opened the second half on a 13-4 run to take a 55-29 lead, its largest of the game, at 10:56. F&M made a late push to cut the deficit to 17 with 3:48 remaining off a 10-2 run, but was unable to close the gap any further on the way to a 17-point loss.

Kristina McCarthy recorded her sixth straight double-double for the Diplomats, registering 14 points and 17 rebounds, while Emma Lisle and Kara Bacile each added 8 points. 

The Mules' Leanna Tallamy led all scorers with 18 points, while Leeann Lanza tallied 10.

F&M outrebounded Muhlenberg 39-34, while the Mules shot 47.4 percent from the floor and the Diplomats shot 28.1 percent.

F&M returns home on Thursday to face off against McDaniel in CC play. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.