ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (0-1) dropped its 2024-25 season opener against Whitman (1-0), 63-48, Friday afternoon at the Chuck Resler Tournament. Whitman, a team receiving votes in the national poll, used a big second quarter that saw the Blues out-score the Diplomats, 17-7, in the frame.

Trailing 9-6 with just over five minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Ally Trebelev knocked down two free throws to get the Diplomats within one. Soon after, a jumper from Kennedy Wilburn and a free throw from Quinn Galligan gave F&M an 11-9 advantage. However, a tip-in from Whitman at the buzzer tied the game at 11-all through one quarter of play.

Unfortunately, the Diplomats started the second quarter cold from the field as Whitman began an 11-2 run to start the period. Steph Sexton knocked down a three-pointer with 1:54 remaining in the frame to cut the Blues' lead to 22-16. Wilburn buried a jumper with just over a minute left on the clock, but Whitman added six more points to give the Blues a 28-18 lead entering the halftime break.

Once again, Whitman had a quick start to the quarter as the Blues jumped out to an 11-3 run to begin the third quarter. However, Franklin & Marshall battled back with a run of their own in the closing minutes of the period. Kayla McCrea made a layup with 4:16 remaining to cut the deficit to 16. Trebelev knocked down a pair of free throws, but the Blues answered with a triple on the other end of the court to give Whitman a 42-25 lead. Jumpers from McCrea and Mackenzie Ward in the final minute lowered the deficit to 13 and reduced Whitman's lead to 42-29 entering the final quarter.

The Diplomats began the final frame with a steal from Sexton and quick three-pointer from Ward to get F&M within 10. However, Whitman remained composed and responded with six-straight points to force F&M to take a timeout with 8:02 on the clock. Wilburn made a layup immediately out of the break to make the score 48-34. However, the Blues went on another run to hold off the Diplomats in the contest.

Wilburn finished tied for the game-high in points with 12, followed by Trebelev with 10 points in the contest. Trebelev and Wilburn also ended the game with eight rebounds each. As a team, F&M shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from beyond the arc, and 88.9 percent (8-for-9) from the charity stripe in the game.

Franklin & Marshall now plays the loser of FDU-Florham and Rochester on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. to wrap up the Chuck Resler Tournament.