AIKEN, SC – Despite holding 16-points leads in both the first and second halves, poor shooting down the stretch doomed 18th-ranked Francis Marion University to an 81-71 loss at USC Aiken, Wednesday night (Feb. 6) in Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball action.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Patriots (16-3, 9-3), but FMU maintains it slim hold on the PBC lead.
Junior guard Jennifer Dyer led FMU with a career-high equaling 22 points, while senior guard Brittany Young added 14 points and four assists Young moved past former Patriot guard Cherita Linton and into fourth place on the school’s career assists list with 505. However, Dyer and Young were the only FMU players to reach double figures as the Patriots tallied their lowest offensive output of the year, 23.4 points below their season average.
Guard Meredith Legg led USCA (13-6, 7-6) with 19 points, while Avonte Williams and Jordon Thomas each added 13 points.
Francis Marion never trailed in the opening half, leading by as many as 16 points at 34-18, before settling for a 41-34 halftime advantage.
In each of its last three victories, FMU rallied from a halftime deficit. This time the Patriots could not hold the lead. Five minutes into the final stanza, Francs Marion again opened a 16-point cushion, 53-37 following two free throws by Dyer.
USCA then scored the game’s next 15 points to trim the lead to 53-52 with 11:32 left as FMU missed 10 consecutive shots and committed three turnovers. Two free throws by Thomas gave the Lady Pacers their first lead at 58-57 with 9:11 remaining. A jumper by Dyer knotted the score at 61-61, but USCA scored 10 straight points to go up 71-61 with five minutes left on the clock. FMU would never seriously threaten after that point.
The Patriots shot only 28.6 percent in the final half, while the Lady Pacers connected on 63.2 percent of their second-half attempts. For the game, USCA also enjoyed a 29-14 advantage at the foul line.
Francis Marion continues its three-day road swing (in five days) by playing at Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
2-6-08 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (Convocation Center)
USC AIKEN 81, #18 FRANCIS MARION 71
FRANCIS MARION (16-3, 9-3 PBC)
Dyer, Jennifer 7-15 5-7 22; Young, Brittany 5-14 3-4 14; Allen, Ebony 3-7
3-3 9; Dixon, Yasmean 2-6 2-2 6; Singleton-Bates, Sha 3-10 0-0 6; Morgan,
Shaquana 2-2 0-2 5; Ransom, Kevina 2-6 1-2 5; Ruff, Evelyn 1-4 0-0 2;
Singletary,Creshenda 1-8 0-0 2; Downer, Shonelle 0-0 0-0 0; Grayson, Rita
0-6 0-0 0. Totals 26-78 14-20 71.
USC AIKEN (13-6, 7-6 PBC)
Legg, Meredith 6-11 5-6 19; Thomas, Jordon 3-7 7-10 13; Williams, Avonte 5-8
3-6 13; Starnes, Megan 3-3 4-4 10; Johnson, Morgan 2-6 4-4 8; Harris,
Triahna 1-3 5-6 7; Leppanen, Satu 3-4 0-0 6; Pinkney, Nakia 2-2 0-0 4;
Broadwater, LaToshia 0-0 1-2 1; Norman, Marissa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-44
29-38 81.
Halftime: Francis Marion 41 USC Aiken 34.
3-point goals-Francis Marion 5-23 (Dyer, Jennifer 3-9; Young, Brittany 1-3;
Morgan, Shaquana 1-1; Ransom, Kevina 0-2; Ruff, Evelyn 0-3;
Singletary,Creshenda 0-3; Grayson, Rita 0-2), USC Aiken 2-7 (Legg, Meredith
2-6; Williams, Avonte 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Young, Brittany;
Dyer, Jennifer, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 35 (Morgan, Shaquana
5; Grayson, Rita 5; Singleton-Bates, Sha 5; Allen, Ebony 5), USC Aiken 44
(Johnson, Morgan 13). Assists-Francis Marion 14 (Ransom, Kevina 5), USC
Aiken 21 (Harris, Triahna 5; Williams, Avonte 5). Total fouls-Francis Marion
29, USC Aiken 17. A-885
Men's Sports
