Abernathy & Diplomats Handle Washington College, 82-78

by Sports Information
2/1/03

CHESTERTOWN, MD - Amy Abernathy (Jr., Far Hills, NJ/American School-Paris) recorded her twelfth double-double of the season to lead Franklin & Marshall College over Washington College 82-78.

In the first half, Fran DiFazio (Sr., Clinton, NJ/Pennington) scored six points to ignite an 11-0 run from 11:05 to 7:52 as the Diplomats pulled ahead to stay. Washington was able to cut the Diplomats lead to four on a Katie Piringer lay-up with one minute left in the half, but F&M answered right back with a jumper by Abernathy and a three pointer by Kelly Witkowski (Sr., Colts Neck, NJ/Marlboro) to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room.

The Diplomats opened the second half on 9-2 run to push the lead to 15 at 48-33 as F&M pulled away. Leading by as many as 19 points following a three-point play by Witkowski, the Diplomats were forced to hold off a Shorewomen comeback attempt as Washington used a 12-0 run to cut the F&M lead to six points with a just over a minute to play in the half.

Kirsten Richter (Sr., Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) hit a jumper, and Dana Johns (Fr., York, PA/Eastern York) converted a pair of free-throws to put the lead at 10 points with 29 seconds left on the clock, but Karen Simos drained three free-throws following a foul by Jamie Drahos (Sr., Ambler, PA/Wissahickon) to cut the lead to four with 17 second left in the game.

Following a thirty-second timeout by Washington, Piringer fouled Ann Parker (Jr., Baltimore, MD/Notre Dame) who made a pair of free throws to put the lead at six with 17 seconds left.

With seven seconds left on the clock, Simos drained a three-pointer to move the Shorewomen within three points, but Johns made the second of two free throws for the 82-78 victory.

Abernathy led the Diplomats with 23 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots while Johns added 14 points, four assists and three steals. Difazio dropped in 10 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Witkowski chipped in nine points.

For Washington, Simos scored a game high 34 points, while Yianna Patronas and Meghan Hartzell added 16 and 10 points, respectively.

Franklin & Marshall will return to action on February 4th when they travel to McDaniel College. Game time is set for 7 p.m.