Box Score LANCASTER, Pa.-- D'Naisha Bellamy-Greene's last second layup completed Franklin & Marshall women's basketball's fourth quarter comeback and lifted the Diplomats past Swarthmore 57-55 in Centennial Conference (CC) action Saturday afternoon at the Mayser Center. F&M (9-11, 7-8 CC) boosted its fortunes in the CC playoff race, picking up a key win over a Swarthmore (9-9, 5-8 CC) squad that sits just behind them in the standings.
F&M came out swinging right at the get go, staking a 5-0 lead on a
Natalie Kolb three point jumper and
Kennedy Wilburn layup. The Garnet quickly responded with a 8-0 run of their own to hand Swarthmore a three point lead. The Diplomats handled their own, however, as the two squads stayed neck-and-neck the rest of the first half the Diplomats led 32-30 at the break. The teams went back and forth throughout the half, seeing a total of eight lead changes between the two sides.
The script changed in the third quarter as the Garnet held F&M to just eight points while pouring in 17 of their own.
Kenna Williams initially expanded F&M's halftime lead to six with an early layup, but Swarthmore rattled off a 9-0 run to snatch a 37-36 lead with 5:19 to play in the quarter. The Diplomats fought back, as back to back layups by Williams and
Jaclyn Feit helped F&M retake a 40-37 lead with 3:52 left. Another 8-0 spurt by the Garnet pushed them to a 45-40 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
F&M found their spark at the beginning of the final quarter as the Diplomats started out with a 9-0 run to snare a 49-45 edge. Kolb polished off the run with a three pointer and layup with 6:54 to go. F&M continued to hold a slim margin for the remainder of the quarter, fighting off the Garnet until a contested triple from the left side knotted the game at 55 apiece with 26 seconds remaining.
After a 30-second timeout to regroup, it became Bellamy-Greene's time to shine. The guard dribbled down the clock, drove to her left, and put up a tear-drop off the backboard with just 2.6 seconds remaining on the clock. A final heave from the Garnet came after the buzzer, securing the 57-55 final.
F&M outshot the Garnets 42.1%-32.1% and outrebounded them by a staggering 45-25 advantage. The Diplomats drew 25 turnovers and committed only 13 of their own. F&M also dominated in the paint with a +20 margin (38-18).
Three Diplomats reached double digit scoring as Kolb netted 15, Williams rallied through 13, and Bellamy Greene racked up 11. Williams continued her block party with four swats, along with an active day on the glass with 12. Kolb capitalized on three total three pointers throughout the contest.
The Diplomats' next task at hand will be a visit to second-place Johns Hopkins in CC play on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. Last time the two sides met, F&M gave the Blue Jays all they could handle, holding a three-point halftime lead and holding Hopkins to just a dozen points until relenting in the second half.
