LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall battled McDaniel in a close 61-58 loss in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action on Thursday night at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats fell to 3-12, 1-7 CC, while the Green Terror improved to 10-4, 5-3 CC.

Down 53-52 with 3:55 remaining in the game, F&M's Hannah Rose Nussbaum connected on a difficult layup to give the Diplomats their first lead in over 11 minutes of action, 54-53, with 3:33 left to play. Kristina McCarthy followed with another F&M layup to give the Diplomats a 56-53 lead with 2:07 remaining in the contest.

From there, McDaniel's Lindsey Nichols scored six straight points as the Green Terror led 59-56 with 42 seconds to go. McCarthy sank a layup with 12 seconds remaining, but McDaniel's Allie Eader made a foul shot with nine seconds to go that put the game out of reach.

The game was close early as the contest was tied 4-4 with 16:17 to go in the first. But, over the next five minutes of action, the Green Terror went on a 14-5 run to take an 18-9 advantage with 9:13 left in the first half.

F&M responded by scoring six straight points to cut McDaniel's lead to 18-15 with 7:10 to go in the first. However, the Green Terror countered with an 8-2 spurt to take a 26-17 lead with 4:16 remaining.

The Diplomats fought back in the last 4 minutes of the opening half, as F&M put together a 12-3 run to close out the first, which tied the game at 29 at the break.

The Diplomats led by as many as six points in the opening minutes of the second half, while the Green Terror led by as many as four as the lead changed 11 times in the contest.

Kristina McCarthy led all scorers with 18 points, while bringing down 14 rebounds to collect her seventh straight double-double. Sarah Haddon and Sam Plunkett were also in double-digits in points as each notched 11.

Three McDaniel players reached double-digits in points, led by 15 from Steph Perez. Emma Wingerd scored 13, while Lindsey Nichols added 12.

F&M shot 47.1 percent from the floor, while McDaniel shot 35.2 percent. The Diplomats outrebounded the Green Terror 40-29.

F&M returns to the court Wednesday when the Diplomats battle Dickinson. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m.