LANCASTER, Pa. – A fourth quarter surge from Franklin & Marshall fell just short as Ursinus defeated a resilient F&M squad 71-63 on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball. The loss dropped F&M to 0-5, 0-2 CC while Ursinus moved to 2-3, 2-0 CC with the victory.

Down 54-42 after three quarters, the Diplomats kept the score close to begin the fourth, trailing 61-47 with 4:42 remaining. However, F&M pulled much closer when an old-fashioned three-point play from Erica Brown kicked off a 15-5 Diplomat run that brought F&M as close as four, trailing 66-62 with 37 seconds remaining.

Ursinus managed to stem the tide, getting a free throw from Elana Roadcloud and a pair of makes from the charity stripe by Alyssa Polimeni to rebuild a 69-62 lead with 23 ticks left. The Bears made five of eight free throws down the stretch to emerge victorious, 71-63.

The comeback was not the first of the day for F&M. After Ursinus closed the first quarter on an 11-4 run, the Diplomats found themselves down 19-11 to open the second period. Ursinus went up by as much as 10 at 21-11, but a three-pointer from Sarah Pisani and nine straight points from Anajha Burnett keyed a 15-6 F&M run over the bulk of the second. Two late jumpers from Haley Pilone sent the teams into the halftime break tied 30-30.

F&M found less room to operate in the third quarter, as six straight points from the Bears' Jess Porada fueled a 10-2 Ursinus run over the opening four minutes of the third quarter. The Diplomat offense came alive later in the period, including two threes from Pilone, but the Bears nonetheless took a 54-42 lead into the final frame.

In her first collegiate game after injury kept her action early in the season, Pilone led the Diplomats with 20 points. Burnett followed with 14 points, while Brown reached double figures for the second time this season with 11 points.

Brown also recorded the first double-double by a Diplomat this season, pulling in 11 rebounds. Lindsey Powers and Sarah Haddon each corralled four.

F&M returns to action on Thursday, traveling to McDaniel for a 7:30 p.m. game.