LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (4-1) used a big fourth quarter to overpower Lancaster Bible (0-6), 61-43, in the Diplomats' opening game of the Terry Greene Tip-Off Tournament Friday evening. F&M outscored LBC, 30-4, in the final 10 minutes of the contest to overtake the Chargers on the scoreboard.

F&M jumped out in front early with an 8-7 lead halfway through the first quarter. Lizzie Neville and Lauren Rusas made layups on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to five. After the Chargers made a jumper at the 3:22 mark, Neville responded immediately with a jumper of her own at the other end to keep the lead at five. Hailey Cabanas made a jumper to push F&M's advantage to seven, but LBC made a layup in the closing seconds to cut the Diplomats' lead to 16-11 after one quarter of play.

Franklin & Marshall picked up where it left off to start the second frame with Gia Sioutis making a layup, followed by Mackenzie Ward connecting on a three-pointer to give the Diplomats a 10-point cushion. F&M led 27-18 with two minutes remaining on the clock when LBC closed the quarter by scoring seven-unanswered points – narrowing F&M's lead to 27-25 entering the halftime intermission.

F&M struggled to score in the third quarter, shooting 14.3 percent from the field in the frame. Rusas and Kayla McCrea combined for the Diplomats' only points of the quarter as LBC outscored the hosts, 14-4, in the stanza.

Franklin & Marshall flipped a switch in the fourth quarter with Neville hitting a pair of free throws, followed by jumpers from Sioutis and Ward to get the Diplomats within two. The Chargers ended their scoring drought with a layup at the 7:38 mark, but Ward answered with a layup on the other end. A jumper from Rusas tied the game at 41-41 with 7:13 remaining in regulation. A three-pointer from Sioutis with 6:22 left on the clock gave F&M its first lead since the 7:09 mark of the third quarter. The Diplomats pushed their lead to 52-41 across the next four minutes of the contest. The Chargers made a layup to cut the deficit to nine, but F&M ended the game by scoring nine-unanswered points to close out the win.

F&M shot 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the free throw line in the big fourth-quarter surge. For the game, the Diplomats tallied a shooting percentage of 37.5 percent (27-of-72) from the field. Franklin & Marshall outrebounded Lancaster Bible, 46-28, in the contest. The Diplomats also forced 22 turnovers in the victory.

Neville led F&M in scoring with 14 points, while tallying five rebounds, five assists, and three steals in the game. Ward notched 12 points with four rebounds and one steal in the win. McCrea and Rusas also finished with double-digit scoring figures with both players registering 10 points apiece. Sioutis followed with nine points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in the victory.

Franklin & Marshall wraps up the Terry Greene Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, hosting Delaware Valley at 3:00 p.m.