HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (6-1) extended its winning streak to three with a 78-67 victory over Centenary (4-2) in Tuesday evening's non-conference matchup. Lizzie Neville highlighted the night by scoring a career-high 34 points in the win, which ties Alexa Barbush '13 for the ninth-highest amount of points in a single-game in program history.

F&M held a 10-8 lead halfway through the first quarter before Gianna Modica splashed a three-pointer to extend the difference to five. The teams traded baskets with Centenary closing the deficit to two with 1:34 on the clock. Modica responded by converting and and-one to give F&M a five-point advantage. A pair of free throws from Lian Aviles gave Franklin & Marshall a 19-12 lead through 10 minutes of play.

Leading 21-13, Neville and Kayla McCrea both made layups to cushion F&M's advantage to 10. After Centenary connected on a jumper, Neville followed with a three-pointer on the other end to extend the lead to 26-15. The Cyclones began to chip away at the deficit, cutting the score to 34-28 at the two-minute mark of the second quarter. McCrea made a jumper, but the Cyclones added a free throw on the next possession to get within seven. Fiona Reckner ended the quarter by drilling three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to take F&M into the halftime break with a 42-29 lead.

Centenary scored the first two baskets of the second half to reduce the deficit back down to nine. F&M picked up momentum on offense with Neville scoring the next six points to push F&M ahead, 48-33. The Cyclones couldn't get the deficit down to single digits for the rest of the contest as the Diplomats held a 61-49 lead at the end of the third quarter.

F&M continued to increase its lead halfway through the fourth quarter when Gia Sioutis made a free throw, followed by Neville connecting on a three-pointer to push the lead to 20. A layup from Mackenzie Ward gave F&M its largest lead of the night at 22 points.

Franklin & Marshall shot an impressive 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from beyond the arc in the win. The Diplomats also forced 15 turnovers in the victory.
Neville shot 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the field, while making all four of her three-point attempts in the contest. Neville led the game with four steals, while also tying Sioutis for a team-high five rebounds each in the win. McCrea followed with 13 points, three assists, and three steals in the victory.

Franklin & Marshall gears up for Centennial Conference (CC) action, traveling to play Swarthmore on Wednesday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m.