WESTMINSTER, Md. – Franklin & Marshall built a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter before holding on to defeat McDaniel 61-57 in Centennial Conference (CC) women's basketball action on Saturday.

Karli Zeps (Reisterstown, Md./Seton Keough) led the Green Terror (3-6, 2-3 CC) with 18 points and nine assists.

Ashlyn Petersen paced the Diplomats (3-5, 3-3 CC) with 15 points off the bench – one of four players in double figures for the visitors.

Tied at 37-all, Sarah Pisani hit a 3-pointer with 3:32 to play in the third quarter to put Franklin & Marshall in front for good and spark a 14-2 run.

A Haley Pilone putback and one Pisani free throw stretched the lead to 43-37 before Libby Dougherty (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) hit a second-chance layup to make it a four-point game with 2:00 to play in the period.

Erica Brown stretched the lead back to six with a layup in the final minute.

Back-to-back triples from Pilone and Peterson stretched the lead to double digits before 42 seconds had elapsed in the fourth quarter.

Two Alyssa March (Fallston, Md./Fallston) free throws and a pair of Zeps layups trimmed the margin to 51-45 with 6:31 to play.

A March layup with 1:04 to play and two Zeps free throws with 12.7 seconds showing trimmed the margin to 57-55 but the Diplomats hit all four of their attempts from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

Jasmine Smith (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) converted a three-point play with 8:00 on the first-quarter clock to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.

AnnMarie DiCarlo hit a layup with 6:15 showing to spark a 10-0 run that gave Franklin & Marshall a 12-5 lead with 2:11 to play in the opening quarter en route to an 18-10 edge at the end of the period.

Trailing 24-15, Liv Storer (Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia/Galen Catholic) drained a jumper to spark a 6-0 burst that trimmed the margin to three en route to a 28-25 game at the break.

Smith finished with 14 points to go with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Green Terror returns to action at Susquehanna on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Game time is 7 p.m.

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