The victory keeps the Patriots (15-2, 8-2) on top of the PBC standings and avenges an 87-82 loss to North Georgia back on December 1.  FMU remains unbeaten (9-0) at home this year.  North Georgia drops to 12-6 overall and 5-6 in the Peach Belt.

Francis Marion’s full-court pressure defense forced 23 second-half turnovers by the Lady Saints, and 41 for the game.  FMU converted those miscues into 42 points.

Senior forward Rita Grayson came off the Patriot bench to lead Francis Marion with a season-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.  In addition to Ransom, senior guard Brittany Young tallied 16 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and four assists.  Honored before the game for recently scoring her 1,000th career point, she needs only four assists to become only the fourth FMU cager to amass 1,000 points and 500 assists.

Juniors Jennifer Dyer and Ebony Allen added 14 and 10 points respectively for FMU. The Patriots also exceeded their nation-leading averages of 95.7 points and 20.2 steals per game.

The North Georgia loss overshadowed a 30-point, 11-rebound performance by 5-11 senior forward Kourtney Singleton.  She hit 14 of 19 free throw attempts and also handed out four assists.  Megan Huffman added 15 points and six rebounds before fouling out and Syretha Marble chipped in 13 points and six rebounds.

Despite trailing by as many as nine points, North Georgia rallied to take a 41-37 halftime lead.

Turnovers and free throw shooting proved to be the difference in the second stanza.  In addition to forcing the Lady Saint mistakes, FMU hit 18 of 23 shots from the foul line over the 18 minutes.  North Georgia did shoot 57.7 percent from the floor in the final half, but missed eight free throws and could not hold off the Patriots.

A jump shot by FMU freshman Shannon Singleton-Bates, off a feed from Ransom, gave Francis Marion the lead for good at 50-49 with 13:39 left.  The margin would swell to 80-65 following two charity tosses by Young with 4:56 remaining.  North Georgia’s Singleton scored the game’s next eight points to start a 21-10 Lady Saints’ run that trimmed the lead to 90-86 with 27 ticks left.

Dyer then scored on a fast-break layup and Ransom added two free throws to seal the Patriot win.

Francis Marion plays host to Armstrong Atlantic State University on Monday at 5:30 p.m., while North Georgia hosts Lander University on the same evening also at 5:30 p.m.