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.

Read Full Article