COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's basketball team was outscored, 40-24, in the second half in suffering a 62-54 setback at the hands of visiting Franklin & Marshall this evening, muddying the Centennial Conference playoff picture even further. The Bears fell into a tie with Dickinson for fourth place in the crowded standings and are now a half-game clear of Haverford and a game ahead of Johns Hopkins as four schools chase two postseason berths.
Senior forward Jessica Porada led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and the 26th of her career. But all other players were just 12 of 51 from the field for Ursinus (10-12, 9-7), which shot 25.7 percent (9 of 35) after halftime and made just 3 of 22 from 3-point range (13.6 percent).
Erica Brown finished with 17 points and nine rebounds and Sarah Haddon posted 14 points and a game-best 15 rebounds for Franklin & Marshall (6-17, 4-12), which snapped a four-game losing streak in the series and played the role of spoiler with a strong fourth quarter.
Ahead by as much as ten (32-22) after a bucket by Porada to open the third quarter, Ursinus went cold as the Diplomats worked their way back. F&M scored on seven of its next eight possessions during a 16-6 spurt that placed the teams on level ground at 38-apiece with 4:25 left in the quarter. A free throw by senior forward Elana Roadcloud and a jumper by sophomore guard Rachel Guy gave the Bears a three-point edge before Haley Pilone's triple evened the score at 3:08, and neither team scored for the rest of the quarter as the teams went into the last leg knotted at 41.
Haddon's three-point play gave F&M a lead it would never relinquish, 46-43, with 8:20 to go. She added a jumper and Pilone scored inside to stretch it to seven, and the Bears could get no closer than five the rest of the way.
Sarah Pisani scored 13 points and handed out six assists for the Diplomats, and Lindsey Powers corralled 13 caroms.
Roadcloud paired seven points with ten boards for Ursinus, while Guy and junior guard Olivia Kane chipped in with eight points apiece. Junior guard Libby Lannon came up with two points, five rebounds, three assists, and four steals.
The Bears found themselves in an 8-2 hole and still trailed 12-7 after Shannon O'Conner banked in a desperation jumper. But the home side scored the last nine points of the period, Kane wrapping a pair of 3-pointers around a hustle play from Lannon, who dove on the floor for a steal and dished off to a streaking Guy for a breakaway deuce.
The Diplomats regained the lead at 17-16 on a banked 3 by AnnMarie DiCarlo, but Lannon's nifty wraparound scoop shot under the basket gave the advantage back to the Bears . Porada asserted herself from there, scoring the game's next six points, and Roadcloud's lay-up off a great feed from her frontcourt mate sent Ursinus into the locker room with a 30-22 edge at the break.
But F&M locked in from there, and Ursinus was unable to stem the tide.
With two conference games to play, the Bears will need to take down a playoff-bound foe, or get help elsewhere, to secure a playoff bid. Ursinus takes a brief break from CC action with a road trip to Bryn Mawr on Wednesday before welcoming 15th-ranked Muhlenberg to Helfferich Hall for Senior Day on Saturday, February 20. The Bears then close the season at Gettysburg on Monday, February 22.