Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – After handling Franklin & Marshall easily in the teams' first regular season meeting at Bream Gym, the Gettysburg College women's basketball team had the tides turned against them by the host Diplomats, falling 75-59 in a Centennial Conference contest at the Mayser Center.

Franklin & Marshall (18-6, 13-4 CC), which fell 70-47 to Gettysburg earlier in the season, secured a first-round bye for the upcoming conference tournament with the victory, while the Bullets move into a tie with McDaniel College for fourth with identical 11-6 league records. Gettysburg, 15-9 overall on the year, hosts the Green Terror this Saturday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m. A win by the Bullets guarantees a playoff berth and the right to host the first round of the conference tournament.

Gettysburg kept the score close in the early going, knotting the game at 14-14 on a lay-up by Caroline Funchion (Devon, Pa./Conestoga) at 11:21. Unfortunately for the visitors, that would be the last field goal they would convert until Allie Drechsler (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) nailed a jumper at 4:43. Franklin & Marshall took full advantage, jumping out a 10-point lead (25-15) with an 11-1 run, and then extending the lead to 18 (35-17) with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The teams exchanged buckets, including a three-pointer by Bullet junior Margaret White (Burke, Va./James W. Robinson), to put the score at 37-20 at the break.

The Diplomats continued to press the action in the second half and held a 23-point lead (58-35) with just under 10 minutes left to play. Gettysburg had enough for one final push, however, slicing the deficit with 13 consecutive points, eight coming from the hand of freshman Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing), to pull to within 10 (58-48) with 6:19 on the clock.

Franklin & Marshall standout Sarah Meisenberg ended the visitor's run with a three-pointer and proceeded to nail 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the final 3:14 to help seal the win for the hosts.

Moser finished off a career night for Gettysburg with 24 points and seven rebounds. She finished 8-of-13 from the field and converted 8-of-12 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Courtney Fields (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) posted seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Drechlser also finished with seven points and four rebounds. White ended the night with nine points, all from three-pointers.

Meisenberg led a quartet of double-figure scorers for Franklin & Marshall with 24 points, adding five rebounds, five steals, and seven assists. Beth Holt tallied 12 points, all in the first half, while Cara Landolfi and Sara Wolman chipped in with 11 points.