LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team took a lead into halftime on the road against a top-five powerhouse, but the Bears hit a second-half skid and suffered a 9-4 Centennial Conference loss at No. 4 Franklin & Marshall.

The Bears (6-6, 3-2) led 4-2 after a goal by senior Lindsey Grabell late in the first half, but the defending champion Diplomats (10-4, 4-1) closed the final 37:53 with seven unanswered goals. Sophomores Franny Liberatoscioli and Abby Goldstein joined Grabell and fellow senior Amy Kohout in the scoring column for Ursinus.

Paige Moriarty led Franklin & Marshall – which advanced to the NCAA Final Four a year ago – with three goals and two assists, including back-to-back markers that erased an early 2-0 lead for the Bears after Kohout's unassisted tally just over six minutes in.

The visitors went back on top with another two-goal run, this one courtesy of a free-position shot by Goldstein and Grabell's goal on the first assist for sophomore Emily Blaszkow. That gave the Bears a 4-2 lead with 7:53 to play in the first period, but the Diplomats got within 4-3 on Maddie Hughes' goal and took over from there.

Moriarty assisted on Grace Norley's equalizer and potted the go-ahead goal with 25:14 showing on the clock. Natalie Delinsky capped a 3-0 run in a span of less than two minutes to make it 6-4, and Moriarty set up Gabby Frank for a 7-4 lead at the 19:42 mark. The Blue and White tacked on two more in the final 5:15 for the final margin.

Senior Lisa Grous had three draw controls and a pair of ground balls for the Bears, while sophomore Bridget Sherry registered two caused turnovers. Sophomore Kaitlyn France finished with six saves, five of them coming in the second half.

Danielle Harrington made seven saves for the Diplomats.

Franklin & Marshall outshot Ursinus, 24-14, and held slight edges in draws (8-7) and ground balls (11-9).

The Bears return to the field on Wednesday, April 19 at Bryn Mawr.