SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury University women's basketball team saw a late rally fall short in a 65-54 defeat to the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats on Monday afternoon at Maggs Physical Activities Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tied 2-2 in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Alex Bull hit a layup and followed it up with a pair of free throws to give the Sea Gulls a 6-2 lead. The Diplomats recovered and soon after got four straight points from Lizzie Neville, including a fastbreak layup to put F&M up 9-8 at the 3:33 mark.
• Sym Deloatch answered for SU with a layup to make it 10-9, and the teams traded blows through the end of the first. Kennedy Wilburn's layup evened things at 13-13 to cap the period.
• The Diplomats opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, capped by a Neville layup that made it 19-13 at the 8:09 mark. Ashlynn Burrows cut off the rally with a jumper, helping Salisbury jumpstart its own 10-4 push. Tori Rumbaugh went coast-to-coast for the tying layup with 4:10 to go to make it 23-23.
• From there F&M punched back with a 10-2 run of its own, with Neville's triple building the Diplomat lead to 33-25 with 50 seconds left. Deloatch's layup pulled SU back within six at 33-27 heading into halftime.
• Bull got the Sea Gulls going in the third quarter with a jumper, then Abby Wilkinson broke loose for a fastbreak layup, plus a free throw to make it a one-point game at 33-32. The teams traded blows over the next few minutes, with Jaclyn Feit netting two layups and Hailey Ader contributing a deep jumper and a free throw to make it 37-35 F&M at the 7:16 mark.
• Up 39-37 with 4:50 to go, Feit and Neville put together back-to-back jumpers to open up a 43-37 F&M advantage. Neville closed out the third with seven straight Diplomat points, including the jay that made it 48-41 to close out the session.
• Rumbaugh converted a three-point play to get the Sea Gulls within 48-44 to open the fourth quarter, but F&M netted the next seven to push it back to 55-44. The Diplomats eventually opened up a game-high 12-point lead on a Neville triple that made it 60-48 with 4:08 to go.
• The Sea Gulls muscled up and put together one last rally. Emily Dilger hit a pair of free throws, then Wilkinson put in a second-chance layup. Kayla Nieberlein followed with layup to cut the SU deficit to 60-54 at the 2:16 mark.
• Salisbury couldn't convert on its next possession, though, and the Diplomats ran down the clock at the free throw line, with Feit sinking the pair that provided the final 65-54 margin.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Emily Dilger paced the Sea Gulls with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She also hauled in a team-high seven rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
• Alex Bull netted eight points with two steals. Bull is averaging 12.3 points over her last three contests.
• Tori Rumbaugh and Abby Wilkinson each put up identical lines of seven points, five rebounds and two assists.
• Ashlynn Burrows and Sym Deloatch chipped in six points apiece.
• Salisbury shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor but got shut out from three-point range, going 0-for-9. SU converted 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the free throw line.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL GAME NOTES

• Lizzie Neville led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep. Neville also clocked in with two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Kennedy Wilburn posted up for 14 points (7-of-16) and 14 rebounds, including six offensive boards.
• Jaclyn Feit overcame a slow first half to finish with 10 points, seven boards, four blocks and three steals.
• The Diplomats shot 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the floor and made 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from beyond the arc, plus 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe.
• F&M outrebounded the Sea Gulls 42-35 overall and 18-12 on the offensive glass.
• The Diplomats recorded 12 steals on the way to winning the turnover battle 22-18. F&M netted 22 points off turnovers compared to SU's seven.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls continue their three-game homestand against Lancaster Bible College on Wednesday evening.
• Tipoff from Maggs PAC is set for 5:30 p.m. with game coverage on the Sea Gull Sports Network (SGSN) beginning at 5:15 p.m.

---

Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football, Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 188 conference championships and 43 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.