LANCASTER, Pa. – A late second-half run pushed Ursinus past Franklin & Marshall by a score of 80-74 on Wednesday evening in women's Centennial Conference (CC) basketball action. The Diplomats fell to 5-17, 2-13 CC, while the Bears improved to 8-14, 6-9 CC.

With 5:59 remaining in the contest, Ursinus' Olivia Kane drilled a 3-pointer to give the Bears a seven-point lead at 69-62. However, F&M did not go away, as the Diplomats scored six straight points, capped off by an Erica Brown jumper, to come to within one at 69-68 with 3:20 remaining.

Alyssa Polimeni then hit back-to-back free throws to extend the lead back up to three points at 71-68 for the Bears at 2:57, and Allie Cook's steal led to a layup for Jessica Porada, giving Ursinus a five point advantage with 2:28 remaining.

The Bears never gave up the lead for the remaining minutes, as Ursinus ended the game on an 11-6 spurt, giving the Bears the 80-74 victory.

In the early going, Ursinus jumped out to a 13-6 lead, but F&M responded with a 12-9 spurt to come to within four at 22-18 with 8:56 to go in the first. After the Bears increased the lead to nine at 27-18 with 6:42 left, the Diplomats' 15-8 run brought F&M to within two at 35-33 with 1:09 remaining in the opening half.

Ursinus scored four straight to end the first, and took a slight 39-33 lead heading into intermission.

The Diplomats came out of the break on fire with a 12-7 spurt, as Anajha Burnett's layup capped off the run and made the score 46-45 Bears with 13:38 remaining in the contest. Ursinus extended the lead again to 53-47, however a 9-2 run, finished off by Brown's jumper, gave F&M its first lead at 56-55 since early in the first.

The teams traded points back and forth until the Bears went up 69-62, and put together the run that the Diplomats were unable to come back from.

Brown led F&M with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting and added 14 boards, both career highs, while Burnett finished with 19 points, a career-high mark as well, and Emily Wetz's 17 points surpass her previous career-best.

Porada paced Ursinus with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Polimeni added 17 points and Cook registered 15.

The Diplomats outshot the Bears 46.2-37.3 percent, but Ursinus held the slight edge on the glass at 45-42.

F&M returns to action on Saturday when the Diplomats travel to take on Muhlenberg at 2:00 p.m.