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LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College center Amy Abernathy (Jr., Far Hills, NJ/American School Paris) scored 17 points, including her 1,000th career point, as the Diplomats outlasted Gettysburg College 77-73 in Centennial Conference women's basketball at the Mayser Center. In a game in which the Diplomats never trailed, Abernathy laid in a feed from guard Courtney Tierney (Jr., Princeton, NJ/Hun School) with 3:31 left in the second half to become the 12th F&M women's basketball player to reach 1,000 career points. Overall, Abernathy finished with eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots to accompany 10 points from guard Kirsten Richter (Sr., Wyomissing, PA/Wyomissing) and Tierney, while Lauren Dodrill (So., Timonium, MD/Roland Park) chipped in nine points in the winning effort as the Diplomats improved to 11-9, 5-6 in Centennial Conference play. F&M built an early 13-4 lead six minutes into the game behind three field goals by forward Fran DiFazio (Sr., Clinton, NJ/Pennington School) and led by 10 at 19-9 following a jumper by Richter. Gettysburg cut the lead to five with six minutes to play until halftime, but the Diplomats regained the momentum to carry a 39-29 lead into intermission. In the second half, Franklin and Marshall led by as many as 14, but Gettysburg made a series of comebacks from double-digit deficits to trail by eight following Abernathy's 1,000th point. Following a jumper by Kelly Witkowski (Sr., Colts Neck, NJ/Marlboro) to push the lead to 10 at 71-61 with 2:48 remaining, the Bullets fouled the rest of the way to inch within 74-71 with 32 seconds left to play. The Bullets had a chance to pull even with 29 seconds left, but Abernathy tied up Gettysburg forward Jay Hodge and Franklin & Marshall had the possession arrow to regain control. Richter drained a pair of free throws with 16 seconds to go on the ensuing possession, but Gettysburg's Dana Bear hit a jumper to move the Bullets within three at 76-73 with four seconds remaining on the clock. On the inbound play, Katie Eiden fouled Abernathy who made the first of a pair of free-throws with 2.6 seconds remaining for the 77-73 final as the Bullets fall to 14-8, 6-5 in Centennial Conference play. For Gettysburg, Jen Bengel tallied 19 points and Bear added 18 points in the loss. The game was nearly déjà vu for the Diplomats as the Bullets overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat F&M 76-70 at Gettysburg on January 18
The Diplomats will continue the season on February 15 at home versus Haverford College in a 2 p.m. game as contest will be part of a day-long celebration of the 100th season of basketball at the College.
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