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Lancaster, PA -- Franklin & Marshall guard Amy Kreitz (Sr., Allentown, PA/Salisbury), playing in her final game at home in the Mayser Center, scored 18 of her game high 22 points in the second half to lead the Diplomats past Johns Hopkins in the ECAC South Women's Basketball playoffs, 75-56. Leading 33-28 at intermission, F&M would outscore the Blue Jays 42-28 in the second half behind Kreitz. F&M would strike first in the last twenty minutes of the game as center Amy Abernathy (So., Far Hills, NJ/American School Paris) laid in a bucket at 18:15 for a five point Diplomats' lead. But Hopkins answered back reeling off a 12-4 run to take a three point lead at 42-39 with 13:52 left on the game clock. The Diplomats would respond in kind as the blue and white engineered a 16-2 string with seven points from Kreitz off three field goals and a foul shot to take the lead for good at 55-44. Leading 49-44, junior guard Kirsten Richter (Jr., Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) buried her second three-pointer of the game from the top of the arch to push the Diplomats ahead by eight on their way to the victory. Hopkins chipped the lead down to ten twice in the final ten minutes, but would get no closer as Franklin & Marshall advances to play at #1 seed Lebanon Valley on Saturday, March 2 at 1:00 p.m. Overall, Kreitz finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, including five offensive and four defensive in the second half. Abernathy chipped in 10 points and 12 rebounds, while junior guard Kelly Witkowski (Colts Neck, NJ/Marlboro) added a season high 12 points in 29 minutes as the Diplomats are now within one win of the first 20 win season since 1991 when the team went 21-6 under head coach Rebecca Lovett. Historically, the Diplomats win over Hopkins marked the first ECAC victory by any F&M basketball team. The women, who fell at Frostburg 68-65 in 1986, to Wilkes in the Mayser Center 59-56 in 1993 and 82-80 at home in overtime versus Western Maryland in 2001. The men's team has never appeared in the ECAC tournament prior to this year, as the Diplomats will host Lebanon Valley College, a 67-61 victor over Penn State-Behrend on Saturday in the quarterfinals at 7:00 p.m. Kathy Darling led Hopkins with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Alissa Burkholder added eight points. The key to the game for F&M was rebounding as the Diplomats held a 46-33 advantage on the boards, including a 34-19 margin on the defensive glass to prevent Hopkins from scoring second-chance points. The win avenges a 62-42 loss in Baltimore to Hopkins in the regular season finale on February 16 as the Blue Jays snapped a 15-game winning streak by F&M. On Saturday, F&M will play #1 seed Lebanon Valley (23-4) at 1:00 p.m., while the winner of Swarthmore-Delaware Valley will face #2 seed DeSales (19-7) at 4:00 p.m. also at LVC. The championship game will take place at noon on Sunday, March 3, at Lebanon Valley College.
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