AIKEN, SC - Sophomore reserve forward Yasmean Dixon scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed six rebounds to help lead top-seeded Francis Marion University to an 84-75 win over eighth-seeded North Georgia College & State University, Thursday evening (March 6) in the quarterfinal round of the Peach Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Patriots improve to 21-7 and will face Lander University in Saturday's second semifinal contest at 4 p.m.

Following Dixon, who hit seven of her 15 shots, was Brittany Young with 14 points, Ebony Allen 12, and Jennifer Dyer 10.  Junior point guard Kevina Ramson, the nation's steals leader, again came off the Patriot bench and tallied nine points, seven assists, and six steals.

The All-Conference trio of Syretha Marble, Kourtney Singleton, and Megan Huffman led the Lady Saints (17-12) with 26, 23, and 15 points respectively.

Poor shooting plagued both teams in the opening half, 37 percent for each team, as FMU took a slim 36-35 advantage at halftime.  There were five ties and 11 lead changes in the opening stanza.

After intermission, FMU quickly opened a seven-point margin (44-37) following a jumper by Creshenda Singletary with 17:27 left.  North Georgia answered with a 10-2 spurt to claim a 47-46 lead with 14:49 remaining.  A basket by Marble with 12:33 on the clock put the Lady Saints up 52-49.

Francis Marion counter-punched with a 12-0 spurt, capped by a three-pointer and layup by Dyer, to take a 61-52 advantage.  North Georgia slowly rallied and after a free throw by Marble with 5:38 left, the Lady Saints trailed only 67-64. 

After FMU expanded the lead to eight, North Georgia again cut the margin to three (74-71) at the 3:16 mark.  The Patriots then hit 8-of-10 free throws over the final 2:27 to secure the win.

Francis Marion forced 16 second-half turnovers by North Georgia and converted them into 28 points.

"Our bench production was great tonight (56-11 advantage in points)," said FMU head coach Heather Macy, "But when you talk about bench and our team it is a bit skewed because of the number of players we use.  Our defensive pressure was better in the second half and we converted on more opportunities."

"I played tonight for the seniors," said Dixon.  "We all know that at this point in the season, each game could be our last."