The Patriots (20-5, 13-5) earn their 20th win of the season, only a year removed from a 6-22 campaign in 2006-07.  FMU also maintains its one-game lead in the PBC standings – now with only two games left to play.  The 28-point margin was the largest win ever for FMU over GC&SU and it evened the all-time series at 15-15 and avenged a 90-84 loss on the Lady Bobcats’ home floor in January.

Following Singletray was junior center Ebony Allen and freshman Shannon Singleton-Bates each with 13 points and junior Jennifer Dyer added 10 points and shared team-rebounding honors with seven.    Junior point guard Kevina Ramson, the nation’s steals leader, chipped in six points, seven assists, and six steals in only 24 minutes of action.

Freshman forward Dominique Huffin led GC&SU (12-13, 7-11) with 20 points, while Tiauna Brantley added 12 and Emily Bixler 10.

Trailing 16-14 midway through the first stanza, Francis Marion rattled off 10 straight points to take the lead for good.  Singletray contributed two baskets to the run.  The margin grew to 12 points before Francis Marion settled for a 39-28 advantage at halftime.  FMU held the Lady Bobcats to 29 percent (9-of-31) shooting over the first 20 minutes and forced 17 turnovers.

FMU opened the second half with a 15-4 spurt, with scoring from six different players, and was never threatened.  The lead swelled to 33 points (81-48) following a free throw by Singleton-Bates with 6:30 remaining.

For the game, Francis Marion shot 46.1 percent from the field and drained 19 of 25 free throws, while outrebounding GC&SU 50-36.  The Patriots also forced 31 GC&SU miscues that resulted in 31 FMU points.

FMU plays at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m, while GC&SU plays at UNC Pembroke at the same time on the Wednesday.