Pledger With 12 Points and 11 Rebounds For Third Double-Double of the Season

LANCASTER, PA – Elizabeth Snyder's putback layup with one second left proved to be the winning basket and lifted host Franklin & Marshall to a 50-49 win over visiting Washington College at the Mayser Center in Centennial Conference women's basketball action on Tuesday evening.  The Diplomats improve to 6-9 overall and 3-7 in the conference, while the Shorewomen fall to 7-8 and 5-5 respectively.

Snyder drained a three-pointer with 5:44 to go in the game to put F&M up 46-39.  Washington cut scored the next six points to cut the Diplomats' lead to 46-45 with 3:02 left in the second half on a lay-in by junior forward Liz Warkala (New York, NY/Marymount School).  The Diplomats answered 21 seconds later on a Kristina McCarthy basket to make it 48-45.  The Shorewomen cut the lead to 48-47 with 1:01 remaining in the second half on a layup by junior forward Latisha Pledger (Chesapeake, VA/Indian River).  After a missed jumper by F&M, Washington got the ball back and junior guard Kelly Mitchell (Laurel, MD/Academy of the Holy Cross) sank a jumper with nine ticks left to give the visitors a 49-48 lead, their first since the early minutes of the ballgame.  After a timeout, F&M's first shot by Alexa Barbush was off the mark, but Snyder got the rebound and scored on the putback with a second remaining for the game-winning points.

In the first half, the Diplomats snapped a 4-4 tie on a three-pointer by Sam Plunkett with 10:05 to go in the opening half to take a 7-4 lead and F&M would not trail again the rest of the half.  The hosts held a 9-7 lead with 5:46 left in the half following a free throw by Washington freshman forward Carley Kendall (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) when they went on a 9-0 run to grab a 18-7 lead with 2:28 remaining in the first on a traditional three-point play by Barbush.  F&M would take a 22-11 lead into halftime.

In the second half, a Colleen Bott layup with 17:31 remaining in the contest gave the Diplomats their biggest lead of the second half of 11 points at 26-15.  F&M led 41-33 with 8:57 to go in the game on two free throws by Hannah Rose Nussbaum before Washington scored six of the next eight points to trim the lead to 43-39 with 6:23 left in the second on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jackie O'Connell (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area).

Snyder had game-bests of 14 points and five steals, while Barbush added 13 points for the hosts.  McCarthy had a team-topping 11 rebounds, to tie for tops in the game, and game-high two blocked shots.  F&M shot 32% (20-for-63) from the floor, 23% (3-for-13) from three-point range and 54% (7-for-13) from the foul line.  F&M turned 19 Washington turnovers into 18 points and the hosts held an 18-2 edge in points off of turnovers in the game. 

Pledger had her third double-double of the season with a team-high 12 points and tied McCarthy for tops in rebounds with 11.  Mitchell handed out four assists to lead all players and tie her career-high.  WC held a 51-40 edge in rebounds in the game.  The Shorewomen shot 32% (19-for-59) from the floor, 14% (2-for-14) and 53% (9-for-17) from the free throw line.

Washington returns to the court on Thursday night when they travel to McDaniel for a 7:00 p.m. conference game.