LANCASTER, Pa. -- A 20-9 run by Franklin & Marshall turned a seven-point deficit into a four-point halftime advantage in the Diplomats' 55-49 victory over Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Wednesday evening at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats (5-6, 3-3 CC) withstood a third quarter rally and held on for the win over the Mules (5-5, 1-4 CC).

The Mules started off hot, scoring ten of the first 12 points in the first three minutes of play. F&M sliced the lead in half, with Kenna Williams and D'Naisha Bellamy-Greene netting back-to-back layups for a 10-6 disadvantage with 6:21 remaining. The Diplomats went cold from the field, taking until 57 seconds remaining in the quarter to find another bucket. Thankfully the F&M defense was up to the challenge, holding Muhlenberg to just one field goal the remainder of the quarter as well.

Natalie Kolb caught fire at the start of the second, draining a pair of triples to close the gap to just 17-16 at the 7:35 mark. Kolb again answered the call from beyond just a few minutes later, giving F&M a 22-20 lead with 5:28 left in the half. The sophomore guard pushed the lead to four on two occasions from the charity stripe, before Alisyn Narracci pushed it to the squad's largest of the evening at 32-26. A late jumper cut F&M's lead to four entering the break.

A quick seven point outburst to open the third quarter extended F&M's lead to 11 on a D'Naisha Bellamy-Green layup with 5:49 left. A 10-0 run by the Mules over the final four-plus minutes quickly closed the Diplomat lead to one entering the fourth.

Muhlenberg recaptured small one-point edges that were short-lived, as Narracci stifled potential Mules runs with buckets to give F&M a 45-44 edge with 7:38 left. Muhlenberg tied the game on an and-one layup with 5:28 left, but Narracci again had the answer with another jumper just 12 seconds later to give F&M the last lead it needed. The Diplomat defense clamped down the rest of the way, forcing four missed shots and two turnovers over the next four minutes to preserve the small advantage. After the Mules diced the lead to just two, a Bellamy-Green jumper and Kenna Williams free throws slammed the door shut on a 55-49 win.

Natalie Kolb led the way for the Diplomats with a career-high 18 points, shooting 4-8 from beyond the arc. Kenna Williams ended with a double-double, notching 10 points and 11 boards. D'Naisha Bellamy-Greene and Alisyn Narracci both finished with eight.

F&M shot 36.4% from the field (20-55) and dominated on the boards with a +12 effort (49-37). An astounding 17 of the Diplomats' 20 made field goals were assisted on in the victory, with Kolb dishing out five and Narracci dealing four helpers.

The Diplomats keep their CC schedule rolling into Saturday afternoon, hitting the road to face Swarthmore at 1:00 p.m.