DURHAM, N.C. - Cassie King scored a game-high 26 points and North Carolina Central University pulled away late to claim a 63-53 win over Francis Marion University, Tuesday night (Dec. 20) in non-conference women's basketball action.
NCCU improved to 8-1, while the Patriots fall to 3-5 with their third consecutive loss.  FMU will return to action after the new year with a Peach Belt Conference road game at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Jan. 4.
Sophomore point guard Brittany Young led Francis Marion with a season-high 16 points, while freshman guard Kirby Marsh tallied a career-high 12 points in her first start.  Senior Danielle Moore added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Patriots, who played without the services of second-leading scorer Creshenda Singletary.
NCCU led 26-25 at intermission after a first half that saw neither squad lead by more then four points.
The score was tied at 42-42 with 8:06 remaining when the Lady Eagles took the lead for good with an 8-0 run.
Francis Marion shot 69 percent in the second half, but was only able to launch 13 attempts (making nine) because of 19 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.  For the game, NCCU scored 26 points off 33 FMU miscues.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 63, FRANCIS MARION 53
FRANCIS MARION (3-5)
Young 6-9 2-5 16; Marsh 4-6 3-4 12; Moore 4-9 1-2 11; Mack 2-4 2-2 6; Etheredge 1-3 1-3 3; Downer 1-3 1-2 3; Goff 1-2 0-0 2; Kiefer 0-1 0-0 0; Preal 0-0 0-0 0; Guilliams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-39 10-18 53.
NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL (8-1)
King 11-25 4-4 26; Gamble 2-7 2-4 7; Bailey 3-6 1-1 7; Collins 2-7 1-4 5; Richardson 1-7 3-4 5; Roundtree 0-3 5-6 5; Jones 2-5 0-0 4; Holmes 1-5 0-0 2; May 1-4 0-0 2; McGhee 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-70 16-23 63.
Halftime--NC Central 26 Francis Marion 25.
3-point goals-Francis Marion 5-12 (Young 2-3; Moore 2-4; Marsh 1-1; Kiefer 0-1; Guilliams 0-2; Etheredge 0-1), North Carolina Central 1-8 (Gamble 1-4; Roundtree 0-1; Holmes 0-1; May 0-1; McGhee 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Young. Rebounds-Francis Marion 36 (Moore 8), North Carolina Central 37 (King 8). Assists-Francis Marion 13 (Young 3), North Carolina Central 12 (Holmes 4). Total fouls-Francis Marion 18, North Carolina Central 19. A-197