LANCASTER, PA – The Franklin & Marshall women's basketball team held the York College Spartans scoreless over the final 7:32 of the fourth quarter as the Diplomats swiped a 63-55 decision in a non-conference contest on Tuesday night in Lancaster.
F&M ended the game on a 14-0 run as they turned a six-point deficit into an eight-point win. The Diplomats outscored York 17-5 in the fourth quarter.
York falls below .500 as they have lost two straight and are now 2-3. F&M extended their win streak to three as they are now 3-1 for the campaign. The loss snaps a 12-game win streak against the Diplomats.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans raced out to a quick 6-0 with four points from Breana Grim. The Diplomats answered with an 8-0 run of their own to take a two-point lead. The Spartans tied the game at eight on another Grim bucket but the Diplomats closed out the quarter with a 9-4 spurt to take a 17-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. The Spartan were loose with the ball as they committed six turnovers which led to eight Diplomat points.
• The Diplomats scored 12 of the first 20 points of the quarter to take a 29-20 lead with 4:30 left in the half. Lauren Rusas powered the run with seven points for the Diplomats. The Spartans got off the mat and responded with a 12-0 run keyed by two threes from Taylor Burda as York took a 32-29 lead with 1:04 left. The Diplomats got a Kennedy Wilburn bucket with 50 seconds left to cut York's halftime lead to one at 32-31.
• The Spartans shot 48% for the half including 2-for-4 from three. The Diplomats shot 37.5% from the field while they kept themselves in it with five three pointers in the half. York had nine turnovers for the half while F&M had eight including five in the second quarter.
• The Spartans maintained the lead until Rusas hit a three with 6:08 left in the third quarter. That kick started a 10-3 run that gave the Diplomats a 45-41 lead with 4:13 remaining in the quarter. The Spartans responded with a 9-1 run covering the final 3:45 of the quarter. Burda and Grace Masser each drilled a triple on the run as York took a 50-46 lead to the final quarter of play.
• The Spartans pushed their lead to a game-high six on a Shealyn Ricks three pointer with 7:33 left in the game. That three would be the last time York scored in the game as the Diplomats finished off the Spartans with a 14-0 run to snatch the win from the Green and White. York went 0-for-8 from the floor, 0-for-4 from three and 0-for-2 from the stripe with three turnovers during the final seven minutes of the game.
 
By the Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 40.4% (21-for-52) from the floor including 6-for-17 (35.3%) from three and 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the line … the Diplomats shot 33.9% (21-for-62) from the floor, 8-for-22 (36.4%) from three and 13-for-19 (68.4%) from the stripe … the Diplomats dominated the Spartans on the glass 44-34 which led to the hosts holding a 10 shot advantage in attempts from the field for the game … the Diplomats had 13 offensive rebounds which led to eight second-chance points … York had 14 turnovers which the Diplomats turned into 16 points …F&M had 15 turnovers but the Spartans didn't make them pay as they turned that into just six points … there were six ties and 10 lead changes in the game.
 
Spartan Notes
The meeting between the two squads is the first since November 17, 2015 when the Spartans rolled to an 84-59 win at the Mayser Center … York leads the all-time series 12-4 as the win snaps a 12-game Spartan win streak … the Spartans are averaging 49.6 points per game in their three losses and 66.0 points per game in their two wins … York committed a season-low 14 turnovers in the game … the Spartans had a season-low three steals in the game … York had just two offensive rebound in the game while F&M had 13 … the Spartans have been out rebounded in four of their five games … grad forward Morgan Adams had her first Spartan career double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds … Breana Grim added 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot in her 27 minutes of play … Taylor Burda came off the bench for the first time this year and notched 12 points on four three-point field goals.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to Wolf Gymnasium on Thursday evening when they host Penn College in a non-conference contest. Tip time in York is set for 6:00 pm.