SWARTHMORE, Pa. – In a game that featured 15 lead changes, Franklin & Marshall was edged out by Swarthmore 65-57 on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action. The Diplomats fell to 2-9, 0-5 CC, while the Garnet improved to 4-7, 1-4 CC.

With 3:51 remaining in the contest, Swarthmore's Elle Larsen hit a 3-pointer to put the Garnet up 55-52. Seconds later, F&M's Emily Wetz answered and knocked down her own triple to tie the game at 55-55 at 3:35.

However, Garnet guard Melanie Ackerman responded with a trey to start a 10-2 run for Swarthmore that included four free throws in the final 15 seconds, as the Garnet prevailed by a score of 65-57.

In the first half, neither team led by more than four points, as the contest was tied early on at 10-10 with 12:16 left. Swarthmore went on a mini run to go up 17-14 at the 8:48 mark, but the Diplomats reclaimed the lead at 5:48 off a layup by Devandria Bernard. 

After two Anajha Burnett free throws extended F&M's lead to 28-24 at 2:20, Swarthmore's Jessica Jowdy hit two three pointers in the final minute of the half to give the home team a 30-28 advantage heading into the intermission. 

The Diplomats regained the lead at 38-34 with 17:32 to go in the second off a Carli Studnicky layup, followed by a Burnett 3-pointer, to cap a 10-4 spurt to start the half. But, an 8-4 Swarthmore run tied the game at 42-42 with 12:34 remaining.

Throughout the next eight minutes of action, no team led by more than three points, as the contest was tied at 52-52 before the Garnet went on the decisive run en route to the win.

Emily Wetz paced the F&M offense with 14 points, while Studnicky added 11 off the bench and Erica Brown notched 10.

Jowdy and Larsen had 20 points apiece, while Ackerman recorded 12 and Maggie O'Neil tallied 11.

Each team recorded 48 rebounds on the night and Swarthmore held the edge in field goal percentage at 33.8-31.7.  Over half of the Garnet's shots were taken from three-point range (11-for-35).

The Diplomats are back in action on Saturday, when F&M plays host to Washington at 1:00 p.m. at the Mayser Center.