LANCASTER, Pa. - The Dickinson women's basketball found themselves in a 42-19 halftime hole on Wednesday night and despite pushing hard through the final 20 minutes to get out of it were unable to as the host Franklin and Marshall College secured a 61-45 conference win inside the Mayser Center.
Mia Chapman led the way for the Red and White with 16, while
Victoria Zerbe hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds.
First Quarter
- Dickinson opened up fast with layups for Mia Chapman and Clare Cronley making it 4-0 just over 60 seconds in.
- The home side then got the offense going as seven points by Gia Sioutis and additional baskets for Lizzie Neville, Fiona Reckner and Mackenzie Ward aided a 14-0 outburst to take a 14-4 edge with just over two minutes left.
- A three ball from Cronley and a tough finish in the lane by Emma Landes off a nice baseline feed from Leah Dubin stunted the charge, but a buzzer-beating trey out of the hands of Lauren Rusas gave the Diplomats the 17-9 lead going to the second.
Second Quarter
- The teams traded buckets within the first minute with Chapman and Sioutis tallying for their respective sides.
- Neville, Sioutis and Ward then combined for seven of the next eight points with a Victoria Zerbe free throw being the only DC point making it 26-12 with 3:24 gone.
- A Lizzie McGrath bucket slowed the Diplomats for just a second as they continued to be "red hot" from the floor embarking on a 12-4 run to open up 38-16 advantage with a little more than a minute left.
- Chapman provided a "old-fashioned" three point play to try and spark the Red and White, but late points for Hailey Cabanas and Neville extended the gap to 42-19 at the break.
Third Quarter
- The trio of Chapman, Cronley and Zerbe gave the Devils an early spark trimming the deficit to 42-26 with just about four minutes off the clock.
- A pair of layups by Kayla McCrea gave the Diplomats four of the ensuing six points to margin out to 46-28 as the period entered the final two minutes.
- Unfortunately for Dickinson, they would come up empty on their final five shots, while Sioutis knocked home a mid-range jumper and Ward buried a deep corner three at the horn to take a commanding 51-28 advantage into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Points for Chapman and Cronley over the opening couple of minutes did not do much to hack into the deficit as baskets by McCrea and Ward made it 55-34.
- Dickinson would not be able to make a dramatic push the rest of the way as they got points from Emma Landes, Jessica Maina, McGrath and Zerbe setting the 61-45 final.
Dickinson Top Performers
- Points – Chapman (16), Cronley and Zerbe (8)
- Rebounds – Zerbe (11), Chapman and Dubin (3)
- Assists – Dubin and Zerbe (5), McGrath (2)
- Steals – McGrath and Zerbe (2)
Opponent Top Performers
- Points – Sioutis (18), Ward (11), Neville (10)
- Rebounds - Sioutis (8), Neville (7), Ward (5)
- Assists – Ward (4), Neville (3), McCrea (2)
- Steals – Neville and Sioutis (3)
Postseason Outlook
- Dickinson has locked up a spot in next week's Centennial Conference Tournament with seeding still up in the air as the Devils find themselves in a congested cluster with Ursinus and McDaniel who are all within one game of each other with a one game to play. Two of the three will play a home game next Tuesday as either the three or four seed with the other falling to the five line and playing at the four.
Up Next
- Dickinson (14-10, 8-5 Centennial) will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon at 2pm inside the Kline Center when they take on fourth-ranked and undefeated Johns Hopkins University. Prior to the game the Red and White will recognize seniors Mia Chapman, Leah Dubin and Victoria Zerbe.
