WORCESTER, Mass. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (5-5, 1-5 CC) battled to a 51-45 victory over William Smith (1-9, 1-2 Liberty League) Saturday afternoon to complete the WPI Holiday Classic undefeated.

Tied 27-27 with 6:48 left in the third quarter, F&M gained the lead off a layup from Lauren Rusas. From that point, the Diplomats didn't look back as they held the lead for remaining 16 minutes of the contest. The Herons kept pace with Franklin & Marshall until F&M closed the quarter on a 7-1 run. Back-to-back jumpers from Ally Trebelev and Quinn Galligan pushed the Diplomats' lead to 39-33 with 1:29 left in the quarter. After William Smith went 1-for-2 at the free throw line, Rusas drained a three-pointer to make it an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter.

William Smith cut the deficit to five with three minutes remaining in regulation, but Franklin & Marshall made five free throws down the stretch to hold off the Herons.

F&M got off to an early lead in the game thanks to a 7-0 run to finish off the first quarter. Trailing 9-8 with 3:31 left in the frame, Kayla McCrea and Galligan connected from mid-range on consecutive possessions to put F&M up 12-9. A jumper from Jaclyn Feit and a free throw from Trebelev improved the Diplomats' lead to 15-9 heading into the second frame.

As a team, the Diplomats shot 36.7 percent from the field with four three-pointers in the win.

Trebelev led F&M with 11 points with Galligan tallying 10 points in the game. Feit was a force on the boards as she snagged a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory. Feit's efforts earned her recognition on the all-tournament team.

Franklin & Marshall returns to the Mayser Center to host Salisbury on Saturday, January 6 at 1:00 p.m.