SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Ashlyn Petersen bettered her career high for the second game in a row, scoring a game-high 27 points as Franklin & Marshall held off Swarthmore 65-57 on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action. The Diplomats moved to 8-9, 6-6 CC with the win while the Garnet fell to 2-14, 2-9. 

The early moments belonged to Swarthmore, jumping out to a 7-4 lead before Petersen hit threes on back-to back possessions to give the Diplomats a 10-7 lead at 4:13 in the first. Haley Pilone added a pair from the charity stripe, but after one F&M trailed 14-12.

The Diplomats built their lead in the second, beginning with six points from Sarah Haddon in the first three minutes of the frame. A three from Pilone and a basket from Kristin Hamill made it 27-22 with 3:05 left in the half, but it was five points from Petersen and two free throws from AnnMarie DiCarlo that gave F&M a 7-0 run to end the half and a double-digit lead at the break.

The Diplomats brought an 11-point, 34-23 lead out of halftime, but Swarthmore scored 10 of the first 12 points in the third quarter to cut the Diplomat lead to 36-33. However, a three from Petersen sandwiched between two buckets from Sarah Pisani opened a 43-33 deficit for F&M, eventually leading 47-39 entering the fourth.

Four points from Erica Brown early in the final period extended the Diplomat lead to 53-41 with 8:12 remaining. Back-to-back threes from Petersen and Pisani improved the lead to 14 with 4:09 remaining, and the Garnet never got closer than six as F&M evened its conference record at 6-6 with the 65-57 victory.

Petersen shot 9-of-15 from the field on her way to 27 points, adding eight rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench. Haddon narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Petersen's 27-point effort is the most by a Diplomat in a single game since Anajha Burnett went for 27 against York on Nov. 17, 2015.

F&M shot 41.2 percent from three, compared to 22.2 percent for the Garnet, and outrebounded the hosts by a 47-39 margin.

The Diplomats return to the court on Thursday, visiting Gettysburg at 6:00 p.m. for another important CC matchup.