GREENWOOD, S.C. – Senior Danielle Moore scored a career-high 32 points and pulled down a career-high equaling 14 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Francis Marion University to a 65-58 upset of third-seeded UNC Pembroke, Thursday evening (March 2) in the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference women's basketball tournament.
The Patriots (12-15) advance to the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003. FMU will face the winner of Thursday’s last quarterfinal game between USC Upstate and Columbus State University, Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Moore connected on 11-of-17 field goal attempts and 10-of-11 free throws. She also had two assists, two blocked shots, and five steals, with the steals resulting 10 Patriot points. Sophomore 6-4 center Shavone Mack added eight points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.
Junior 6-0 forward Lauren Lingenfelter paced UNCP (15-13) with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Lindsay Bartholf tallied 11 points, all in the second half.
After falling behind 5-0, Francis Marion scored 20 of the game’s next 26 points to go up 20-11. Moore accounted for 14 points in the run. The Patriots took a 36-20 lead on Brittany Young’s three-pointer with 1:28 left before halftime. FMU led 36-22 at intermission after shooting 51.9 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
After hitting only 7-of-32 shots in the first half, UNCP warmed up in the final stanza. The Lady Braves scored the opening nine points of the second half to cut the margin to 36-31. A jumper by Mack pushed the Patriot lead back to 50-41 with 8:03 remaining. UNCP answered with a 6-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 50-47 with 6:20 left.
Leading by only four points (57-53), Patriot freshman guard Kirby Marsh hit two free throws with 2:16 on the clock. Following a Lingenfelter layup at the other end, Marsh drained two more charity tosses to keep the Patriot lead at 61-55 with 23 ticks left. Two free throws each by Moore and freshman Katherine Kiefer sealed the win.
“We tried to exploit mismatches we felt we had with UNCP, and it worked well in the first half,” said Patriot head coach Valecia Tedder. “We had just played them last week, so both teams knew each other well. I was proud of how we stayed calm in the second half, and were able to come away with the big win.
“I could not have asked for more of our senior leader (Moore) than what she did tonight. She excelled at both ends of the floor.”
Moore said, “I played as if this was my last game. I wanted to leave everything out on the floor. We did not panic in the second half when they rallied, and I think we wanted it just a little bit more than they did.”
3-2-06 5:00 pm at Horne Arena, Greenwood, SC
FRANCIS MARION 65, UNC PEMBROKE 58
FRANCIS MARION (12-15)
Moore, Danielle 11-17 10-11 32; Mack, Shavone 3-10 2-3 8; Marsh, Kirby 1-4
5-5 7; Downer, Shonelle 3-7 0-4 6; Guilliams, Renee 1-5 2-2 5; Young,
Brittany 2-7 0-0 5; Kiefer, Katherine 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 21-52 21-27 65.
UNC PEMBROKE (15-13)
Lingenfelter, Lauren 5-15 5-8 15; Bartholf, Lindsay 4-10 0-0 11; Lightfoot,
Tracey 2-12 3-4 9; Ray, Natalie 4-7 0-0 8; Vaughan, Kristin 3-8 0-0 6;
Willis, Victoria 2-8 0-0 6; Locklear, Porcha 1-1 0-0 3; Midgette, Sharkeysha
0-4 0-0 0; Wright, Tiffany 0-1 0-0 0; Stotler, Tasha 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-66
8-12 58.
Halftime-Francis Marion 36 UNC Pembroke 22.
3-point goals-Francis Marion 2-11 (Young, Brittany 1-3; Guilliams, Renee
1-5; Marsh, Kirby 0-2; Moore, Danielle 0-1), UNC Pembroke 8-28 (Bartholf,
Lindsay 3-7; Lightfoot, Tracey 2-8; Willis, Victoria 2-5; Locklear, Porcha
1-1; Wright, Tiffany 0-1; Vaughan, Kristin 0-1; Lingenfelter, Lauren 0-5).
Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, UNC Pembroke-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion
38 (Moore, Danielle 14), UNC Pembroke 42 (Midgette, Sharkeysha 11).
Assists-Francis Marion 9 (Young, Brittany 3), UNC Pembroke 17 (Lightfoot,
Tracey 10). Total fouls-Francis Marion 12, UNC Pembroke 18. A-202
