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LANCASTER, PA -- Guard Lauren Howanski (Sr., Gap, PA/Pequea Valley) hit a field goal while falling to the floor with 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock as F&M handled Johns Hopkins, 71-70 in Centennial Conference women's basketball action. The loss marks Hopkins second of the season and their first conference loss to end a nine game win streak by the Blue Jays, while extending F&M's win streak to nine. The Diplomats were down 69-62 with 3:47 seconds, but were able to hold Hopkins to only one point as the Diplomats closed the game on a 9-1 run. Howanski would score eleven points in the game, including the last five as she hit a three pointer with 40.9 seconds remaining to pull the Diplomats within one at 70-69. Center Amy Abernathy (So., Far Hills, NJ/American School Paris) picked up her eleventh double-double of the year with twenty points and twelve rebounds. Through fifteen games, she has previously recorded double-doubles against Waynesburg (23 points, 15 rebounds), Lycoming (21 points, 19 rebounds), Gwynedd Mercy (16 points, 13 rebounds), Western Maryland College (16 points, 15 rebounds), Muhlenberg (16 points, 11 rebounds), Drew (12 points, 12 rebounds), Elizabethtown (19 points, 20 rebounds), Ursinus (10 points, 12 rebounds), Moravian (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Dickinson (16 points, 13 rebounds). In the second half, Abernathy would dominate the Blue Jays in the paint scoring five field goals on lay-ups and draining six-of-seven at the foul line as the Diplomats overcame a 38-32 halftime deficit to take the victory. The Diplomats would roll out on a 5-0 run to open the second half before overtaking Hopkins at the 15:46 mark when Abernathy laid in a field goal for a 41-40 F&M lead, their first since an 18-17 lead with 13:04 to go in the first half. Tied 61-61 with 5:48 left in the game, Hopkins would rattle off a 7-1 run to lead F&M 69-62 with 3:47 to go. But the Diplomats would answer back as Abernathy drained one-of-two foul shots with 1:03 to go before Howanski launched a three-point attempt from the top of the arch with 40.9 seconds left to cut the Blue Jay lead to one. Hopkins would get the ball back and drive down the court, but JHU center Kathy Darling would throw the ball out of bounds with one second left on the shot clock and 11.1 left on the game clock to set up Howanski's heroics. With five seconds left on the clock, she would split the seam of the Hopkins defense and drive from the left side of the paint towards the basket for a lay-up attempt. However, she would be tripped while attempting to make the shot, heaving the ball straight up and over the lip of the rim for the winning score with 2.2 seconds left on the clock. Hopkins would attempt to get a shot off, but the game clock would expire before the attempt as F&M improves to 12-4, 5-2 in Centennial Conference play. Senior guard Amy Kreitz (Allentown, PA/Salisbury) drained 8-of-19 from the field and grabbed five rebounds for 18 points, while guard Jamie Drahos (Jr., Ambler, PA/Wissahickon) shot three-of-eight from the field with two three-pointers in five attempts for 10 points. The difference in the game would be free throws as the Diplomats would go to the line twenty times, converting fifteen, while limiting the Blue Jays to 11 points at the charity stripe off 16 attempts. Darling would pick up 13 points in the game, finishing two points shy of the 1,000-point mark. Ashanna Randall led the Blue Jays with 17 points and Maureen Myers added 13 as Hopkins falls to 15-2, 6-1 in the Centennial Conference The win continues a nine game winning streak by Franklin & Marshall as the Diplomats have yet to lose in 2002 and have claimed seven straight victories in the Mayser Center since a 79-52 win over Neumann College on December 8. Franklin & Marshall will return to action on Saturday versus Washington College in the Mayser Center in the sixth game of an eight game home stand. Opening tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. Admission is free.
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