LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (6-1) defeated Centenary (5-2), 77-63, in Tuesday evening's non-conference game inside the Mayser Center. With the win, F&M captured its best start through seven games since 1993. Additionally, the Diplomats recorded their highest-scoring game under head coach Brianna Spector.

F&M began the game on a 7-2 run in the first two minutes and never surrendered the lead throughout the rest of the contest. The Diplomats used a three-pointer from Lauren Rusas and a free throw from Lizzie Neville to extend the lead to 10. However, the Cyclones scored on a jumper in the closing seconds to trim F&M's advantage to 20-12 after one quarter.

The teams traded blows to start the second frame, but Centenary continued to chip away at F&M's lead as the visitors reduced the deficit to 26-23 at the 6:56 mark of the quarter. Neville knocked down a pair of jumpers, followed by Gia Sioutis connecting on a pair of free throws to extend the Diplomats' lead to nine with 4:37 to play in the half. The Cyclones later cut F&M's lead to eight with 16 seconds on the clock, but Kayla McCrea made a layup at the buzzer to give the Diplomats a 44-34 advantage entering the halftime intermission.

The Diplomats proceeded to hold off the Cyclones to start the second half as F&M led 47-38 at the 6:48 mark. However, Centenary began a 9-4 run to cut the hosts' advantage to three with under two minutes left in the quarter. From that point, the Diplomats ended the third with two free throws from Rusas and a three-pointer from Galligan to take a 55-47 lead into the closing quarter.

Still leading by eight with 5:47 remaining in the game, Ally Trebelev drained a jumper and Kennedy Wilburn splashed a three-pointer to extend the lead to 70-57. F&M would later match its largest lead of the night at 14 with a free throw from McCrea.
Franklin & Marshall shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the field and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from beyond the arc in the win. F&M also out-rebounded Centenary, 43-33, in the game.

Wilburn recorded her 12th-career double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds in the victory. Wilburn also had two steals and a block to add to her impressive totals. Trebelev followed with 17 points with two three-pointers in the contest. Neville ended her night with 13 points, four assists and two steals in the game.

Franklin & Marshall looks to continue its winning streak when it hosts its Centennial Conference (CC) opener on Wednesday, December 4 against Swarthmore. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.