SALISBURY, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (10-3, 1-1 CC) began 2025 with a 64-50 win over Salisbury (8-6, 0-0 C2C) Saturday afternoon to wrap up its regular season non-conference slate. With the victory, the Diplomats completed a 9-2 record against non-conference foes this season.

The Sea Gulls jumped in front early to lead 11-2 at the halfway point of the first quarter. F&M responded with jumpers from Kayla McCrea and Lizzie Neville, followed by a layup from Steph Sexton to cut Salisbury's lead to 11-8 with three minutes remaining in the period. The Sea Gulls added three points, but a three-pointer from Neville kept F&M within three. Salisbury led by five in the closing minute, but a pair of free throws from Kennedy Wilburn reduced the home team's lead to 18-15 after one quarter.

Salisbury grew its lead to 23-17 to start the second quarter when F&M scored nine-unanswered points to take its first lead of the game. Neville scored four-straight points, followed by a free throw from Quinn Galligan to get the Diplomats within one. A layup from Neville handed F&M a 24-23 lead, before the junior made a jumper to extend the advantage to three. The teams traded the lead multiple times as the period winded down towards halftime. Tied 29-all with under a minute remaining, Molly Flanagan made a free throw and McCrea connected on a jumper to send the Diplomats into the halftime break with a 32-29 lead.

Franklin & Marshall began to create separation at the start of the second half as Wilburn earned a layup off a steal from Lauren Rusas to put the Diplomats ahead, 34-29. A layup from Galligan extended the lead to 36-29, before Salisbury made a jumper for its first points of the second half. Leading 39-33, F&M used a layup from Rusas and a jumper from Neville to push its lead to 10 at the 5:37 mark of the quarter. F&M led 45-36 with 3:36 left in the frame when Steph Sexton made a layup and McCrea splashed a three-pointer to put the Diplomats ahead by 14. However, the Sea Gulls closed the quarter by scoring four points to reduce the F&M lead to 50-40 entering the final quarter.

F&M found success early in the fourth quarter push the lead to over 20 points and put the game away. Ally Trebelev started the frame by converting an and-one opportunity, followed by Galligan connecting on a triple to extend the lead to 56-40. Another three-pointer from Galligan two possessions later put the Diplomats ahead by 19. After Salisbury knocked down a free throw, Galligan went right back to work with her third three-pointer to give Franklin & Marshall its largest lead of the game at 62-41.

As a team, F&M shot 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the field and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from beyond the arc.

Neville led the Diplomats with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while also shooting 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field. Galligan recorded 12 points with three three-pointers in the win. Wilburn followed with nine points and seven rebounds in the victory.

Franklin & Marshall continues its road trip as it heads to Haverford on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.