SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (7-1, 1-0 CC) eased past Swarthmore (2-4, 0-1 CC), 61-35, Wednesday evening to open its Centennial Conference (CC) schedule. F&M shot 34.8 percent (23-of-66) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Diplomats limited the Garnet to 21.7 percent (13-of-60) from the field and 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from behind the three-point line.

F&M claimed the lead on a layup from Gia Sioutis just over two minutes into the game and didn't look back as the Diplomats maintained the lead for the rest of the contest. Franklin & Marshall led 9-5 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter when Lizzie Neville recorded a layup to push the lead to six. Cleo Dallaris followed with a jumper on the next possession, but the Garnet answered with two points of their own on the other end. A jumper from Hailey Cabanas gave F&M a 15-7 advantage through the first 10 minutes of the contest.

F&M continued to find success on offense at the start the second quarter as a layup from Sioutis pushed the lead to double-digits. Swarthmore cut the F&M lead to 19-12 at the halfway point of the quarter when the visitors scored 12-straight points. Neville and Cabanas knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 13. Kayla McCrea, Cabanas, and Steph Sexton all recorded layups in the late minutes of the period to cushion the lead at 19. A free throw from Swarthmore in the final seconds gave F&M a 31-13 advantage entering the halftime break.

The Diplomats started the second half on fire from the field, while also shutting down the Garnet on defense as F&M scored 12-straight points to start final 20 minutes. McCrea recorded the first five points of the frame to put the Diplomats ahead 36-13. Lauren Rusas drained a three-pointer, followed by a layup from McCrea to push the lead to 27. A three-pointer from Neville halfway through the quarter put the Diplomats ahead by 30 for its largest lead of the game en route to F&M's fourth-consecutive win in a row.

Franklin & Marshall controlled the boards as the visitors outrebounded the Garnet, 56-40, in the contest. The Diplomats also forced 10 steals in the win.

McCrea led the Diplomats on the score sheet with 10 points, while tallying five rebounds and two steals. Sioutis recorded nine points, nine rebounds, and four steals in the victory.
Franklin & Marshall looks to push its winning streak to five when it hits the road to take on Gettysburg on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.