LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall women's basketball fell in their opening game of the Terry Greene Tip-Off Classic, dropping a narrow 53-50 non-conference contest against Wilkes on Saturday in Mayser.

The Colonels improved to 2-0 and advanced to the championship game against William Smith on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., while the Diplomats fell to 1-1 and are set to face local rival Elizabethtown in the consolation match at 1:00 p.m. Both contests can be viewed at GoDiplomats.com/Live. 

Wilkes took a 7-6 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter and never looked back en route to its first victory against F&M since 1993.

The Diplomats made things interesting in the fourth quarter after being down by 10 with 5:53 remaining. A quick 6-0 spurt gave the Diplomats life, as Kristin Hamill caught fire down the stretch. The senior center hit a contested jumper and a corner three on back-to-back possessions to cut the Colonel lead to 50-46 with 3:28 remaining.

After trading free throws in the final minutes, Hamill cut the Wilkes lead in half, corralling an offensive rebound and hitting a jumper in the lane to narrow the score to 52-50.

The Diplomats forced a five-second inbounding violation on the next Wilkes possession, giving F&M an opportunity to finish its uphill battle. A layup attempt from Sarosha Parsons missed the rim with four seconds remaining, forcing Emily Moran to foul with 0.3 seconds to go. The Colonels hit one of two at the line, and the Diplomats' last-second heave was knocked away to end the game.

The Diplomats dominated the boards 53-43, including 26 offensive rebounds leading to 24-second chance points. F&M's defense stood tall, holding Wilkes to 30.2 percent shooting from the field and swatting away 13 Colonels' shots.

Wilkes held the edge in bench points at 26-3 and stymied the Diplomat offense into 24.3 percent shooting from the field, including 2-of-14 from three.

Hamill led the Diplomats with a double-double, picking up 19 points, 14 boards, and three assists. Kenna Williams finished with a double-double of her own, recording 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with 15 rebounds. Sarosha Parsons finished two points shy of matching her teammates with double-digits in both categories, ending with eight points and 11 boards.

Katelyn Kinczel led Wilkes with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Gabby Smicherko recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.