LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (9-11, 4-11 CC) fell at home, 56-45 against Muhlenberg (12-9, 7-9 CC) in Saturday afternoon's Centennial Conference (CC) game at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats battled in the first half and forced multiple lead changes during the opening 20 minutes of the contest. However, the Mules used a big third quarter surge to pull away from F&M on the scoreboard.

After a layup from Jaclyn Feit cut Muhlenberg's lead to 12-6 in the first quarter, the senior drained a three-pointer on the following possession to get F&M within three. The Mules added five points of their own to extend their lead to 17-9 with 1:20 left in the frame. Kayla McCrea and Lizzie Neville knocked down jumpers on back-to-back possessions to reduce the deficit to 17-13 after 10 minutes of play.

Franklin & Marshall continued to build momentum in the second quarter with Feit and Quinn Galligan each finding the bottom of the bucket to tie the game at 17-all. After Muhlenberg connected on a mid-range jumper, Neville splashed a three-pointer to give F&M its first lead of the game, 20-19, just three minutes into the quarter. The Diplomats held a 22-21 lead with six minutes left in the half when Muhlenberg began an 8-2 swing to retake the lead, 29-24. Ally Trebelev chipped in two free throws to get F&M back to within three, but the Mules responded with a three-pointer on the other end to boost the visitors ahead, 32-26, with under a minute remaining in the half. A layup from Galligan cut the Muhlenberg lead to 32-28 entering the intermission.
Out of the break, F&M struggled to get its offensive attack going as it was held scoreless through the first six minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Muhlenberg added 12 points to extend its lead to 44-28.

Despite the slow start to the half, F&M chipped away at the Mules' lead to begin the fourth quarter. The Diplomats cut the deficit down to single-digits after Neville connected from beyond the arc to make the score 51-42. Hope Schreiber drilled a three-pointer with 1:52 left in regulation to get F&M within six. However, that would be as close to tying the score as Franklin & Marshall would come as the home team was denied of adding any more points for the rest of regulation.

As a team, F&M shot 27.1 percent from the field and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe in the game.

Feit led the Diplomats with 11 points, eight rebounds, one block, and one steal. Trebelev and Neville finished with 10 points each in the contest. Both players were also active on the defensive side of the ball with Trebelev tallying six steals and Neville recording four.

Franklin & Marshall hits the road for a three-game trip beginning with a clash with No. 9 Johns Hopkins on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.