Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Freshman Caitlin Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) poured in a career-high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Gettysburg College women's basketball team past host and top-seed Franklin & Marshall College 75-70 in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Mayser Center.

With the victory, the Bullets improve to 18-9 overall on the year and advance to their first conference tournament finale. Gettysburg will meet second-seeded Muhlenberg College (20-6), which downed Dickinson College (16-9) 54-47 in Saturday's other semifinal contest, on Sunday, March 2. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. from the Mayser Center.

Moser was an unstoppable force for the Bullets, particularly in the second half when she posted 18 points and six rebounds en route to her team-best eighth double-double. She finished 11-of-18 from the field overall with a team-high three assists and led Gettysburg for the 12th time this season in scoring. Also reaching double-figures for the visitors was sophomore Nicole Dobranski (Albertson, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) with a career-high tying 16 points to go with 10 rebounds and senior Megan Hartman (Lewistown, Pa./Indian Valley) with 14 points.

Unlike the first two meetings this season, Saturday's game was a close-knit affair in the opening half with neither side gaining more than a four-point advantage in the first 10 minutes. Franklin & Marshall held that margin at 11:09, but Gettysburg erupted for an 11-0 run sparked by jumpers by Dobranski and Moser, to take a 21-14 advantage at 8:46. The Diplomats stormed right back by scoring eight of the next nine points, all on buckets by Brittany Braxton, to knot the contest at 22-22 at 5:06.

Sarah Meisenberg, the Centennial Conference Player of the Year, converted a conventional three-point play to give the hosts a three-point cushion (25-22), but the Bullets came right back with field goals by Moser sandwiched around a three-pointer by Courtney Fields (Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) to retake the lead 29-25. The lead changed hands once again when Beth Holt connected on a three-pointer followed by a lay-up by Meisenberg which made it 30-29 with 1:49 before the break. Gettysburg had the last laugh of the half, however, as Dobranski converted a pair of jumpers to give the visitors a 33-30 edge at the break.

Franklin & Marshall trimmed the lead to one three times in the opening five minutes of the final stanza, but each time the hosts made a run, the Bullets had an answer, usually from the hand of its stellar freshman. In three of the first four instances when it was a one-possession game in the second half, Moser put the visitors back in front by a wider margin. Eventually, Gettysburg's advantage grew to as many as 11 in the final period, the last following a pair of Moser free throws which made it 65-54 at 5:11.

The Diplomats were down, but not out, cutting a 10-point margin down to two (67-65) with 2:13 to play. Hartman provided the dagger, stopping an 8-0 run with a three-pointer from the corner to put the Bullets back up 70-65 at 1:43. Franklin & Marshall had several chances to cut the lead, but the team missed three shots from the free throw line and couldn't convert a pair of field goals following offensive rebounds. On the other end, Gettysburg was nearly perfect from the charity stripe in the second half, converting each of its first 12 opportunities and finishing 13-of-14 overall. Hartman hit all four of her attempts in the final minute, while Fields converted 1-of-2 with 10 seconds remaining to put the team up 75-68. Sara Wolman converted a jumper as time expired to set the final score.

Not only did Moser have possibly one of the best games of the season for Gettysburg, she set a new school freshman standard for season points, surpassing three-time first-team All-CC selection Jennifer Bengel '06. Moser, who was the first Bullet first-year honored with first-team All-CC accolades earlier this week, has 393 points on the year, six better than Bengel's 2002-03 total (387).

Gettysburg posted a season-best free throw shooting effort by finishing 14-of-16 (87.5) from the charity stripe. The Bullets shot 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) and scored 22 points off 18 Diplomat turnovers. Fields contributed to that turnover total by nabbing five steals in addition to scoring eight points. After being held scoreless in the first half, sophomore Allie Drechsler (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) scored six points during a key stretch in the second half.

Meisenberg finished 8-of-16 from the field and 10-of-14 from the free throw line en route to a team-high 27 points. Cara Landolfi finished off a productive day with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Holt added 11 points and seven boards. Braxton also notched double-figures with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.