BRYN MAWR, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team (14-8, 5-6 CC) held off Bryn Mawr (7-14, 0-11 CC), 56-43, in Saturday afternoon's Centennial Conference (CC) game at the Class of 1958 Gymnasium. F&M forced 23 turnovers and converted 24 points off turnovers in the victory.

Tied at 6-6 early in the first quarter, F&M began a 13-2 run to gain an advantage over the Owls. Kennedy Wilburn, Lizzie Neville and Lauren Rusas combined for five free throws to start the stretch with F&M holding an 11-6 lead at the 5:18 mark. Neville and Quinn Galligan each made layups to extend the lead to nine before the Owls responded with a jumper to cut the score to 15-8. Ally Trebelev converted the next four points for F&M, but a layup by Bryn Mawr in the closing seconds gave the Diplomats a 19-10 lead after one quarter of play.

F&M continued to grow its lead as a jumper from Steph Sexton at the 3:39 mark of the second quarter gave the Diplomats a 31-15 advantage. However, the Owls fought back with 11-straight points to reduce the visitor's lead to 31-26. A steal and a layup from Neville in the final seconds sent F&M into the halftime break with a 33-26 lead.

Wilburn began the second half with a layup to grow the Diplomats' lead to nine. Bryn Mawr battled back with five-straight points to cut the F&M lead to 35-31. After another Wilburn layup made it a six-point game, Bryn Mawr made a layup and knocked down a three-pointer on consecutive possessions to get within one. F&M responded in a big way as Neville scored the next five points, followed by two free throws from Quinn Galligan to extend the lead back to eight. After Bryn Mawr made a jumper, F&M knocked down two free throws in the final seconds to hold a 46-38 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

Bryn Mawr kept pace with the Diplomats in the early stages of the fourth quarter to reduce the F&M lead to seven with six minutes left in regulation. From that point, Franklin & Marshall put the game away by scoring the next eight points of the contest to grow its lead to 15 with under two minutes remaining.

As a team, F&M shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) from the field. The Diplomats also outrebounded the Owls, 40-37, in the contest.

Neville led the game with 23 points, while recording five rebounds and three steals. Wilburn tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds to pick up her seventh double-double this season. Wilburn also added four steals on defense in the win.

Franklin & Marshall returns to the Mayser Center on Wednesday to host Muhlenberg at 6:00 p.m.