ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (1-1) earned its first victory of the new season with a 63-55 win over FDU-Florham (0-2) in Saturday afternoon's non-conference game at the Chuck Resler Tournament.  F&M gained an early lead in the contest and never looked back as it grew the lead to as much as 17 in the win.

The Diplomats opened the game on fire from the field with Lauren Rusas and Lizzie Neville knocking down threes and Kennedy Wilburn connecting from mid-range to go ahead, 8-0. Neville added a free throw with just over six minutes left in the quarter before FDU-Florham scored its first points of the game. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch and Wilburn made a layup to close the quarter, giving F&M a 17-10 lead.

After the Devils made a jumper to begin the second quarter, F&M scored the next six points with four coming from Quinn Galligan and two from Neville to extend the Diplomats' lead to 23-12. FDU-Florham cut the F&M lead to seven at the 3:19 mark, but the Diplomats closed the half on a 7-3 run to take a 33-21 advantage into halftime.

Leading 44-32 with 4:29 left in the third quarter, Franklin & Marshall connected on a three-pointer from Kayla McCrea and followed with two free throws from Wilburn to give the Diplomats its largest lead of the contest. Both teams ended the quarter trading free throws to send the game into the fourth quarter with F&M holding a 51-37 lead.

The Devils revved up its offense in the fourth quarter, starting the frame on a 13-4 run to cut the Diplomats advantage to 55-50 with 4:31 remaining in the contest. Wilburn connected on a layup, but FDU-Florham came right back with one of their own to make the score, 57-52, with 1:33 remaining in regulation. Neville followed with a free throw, but the Devils connected on a jumper to reduce the deficit to just four with 41 seconds remaining. Despite the comeback, F&M put the game away with Neville knocked down four free throws and Galligan sinking one at the charity stripe.

Wilburn finished the contest with a game-high 18 points and 17 rebounds to notch her 10th-career double-double. Neville also finished in double figures with 14 points. As a team, the Diplomats sank 25 free throws at the line, which is tied for the ninth-highest in the F&M single-game record book.

Franklin & Marshall gears up to host its home opener on Saturday when it welcomes Eastern at 1:00 p.m.