GREENWOOD, S.C. – Senior Danielle Moore scored 22 points, sophomore guard Brittany Young equaled a career-high with 18 points, and freshman Katherine Kiefer hit two key three-pointers in the final five minutes to lead sixth-seeded Francis Marion University to a 63-58 upset of second-seeded USC Upstate, Saturday afternoon (March 4) in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference women's basketball tournament.
FMU (13-15), which upset third-seeded UNC Pembroke in the quarterfinals, advances to face fifth-seeded Georgia College & State University in Sunday’s title game at 2 p.m. in Lander University’s Finis Horne Arena. GC&SU (16-13) shocked top-seeded Clayton State University 67-61 in Saturday’s first semifinal contest. Sunday’s winner gets the PBC’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division II national tournament.
Francis Marion’s only previous championship game appearance came in 1998 when FMU defeated Columbus State University. GC&SU will be making its sixth title game appearance.
Young also tallied six rebounds and five assists, while committing only one turnover in 38 minutes of action. Moore and freshman guard Kirby Marsh each hauled down eight rebounds.
Reserve guard Kristen Metcalf paced USC Upstate (16-13) with 15 points. PBC Player of the Year Yakeeshia Ross added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans, but she played only 26 minutes before fouling out.
The Patriots, who were swept by USC Upstate during the regular season, led 34-30 at halftime, thanks to 13 points each from Moore and Young. The first stanza featured seven ties and six lead changes.
The Patriots extended their lead to 37-30 early in the second half on a Young three-pointer before Upstate responded with an 11-0 run over a 4:58 stretch. The Spartans went up by as many as seven on two occasions, the last on a Metcalf trey at the 7:28 mark.
FMU answered with a 12-3 spurt in a span of 3:01, reclaiming the lead on the first of Kiefer’s two three-pointers with 4:27 remaining. Upstate got a layup from Lele Miles and a free throw by Ross to go ahead 57-56 before Kiefer nailed another three-pointer to give the Patriots the lead for good (59-57) with 2:13 to play. After Ross hit 1-of-2 free throws to get the Spartans within one at 59-58, Moore and Kiefer went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 1:03 to seal the victory.
“Danielle and Brittany stepped up today and decided that we were not going home,” said FMU head coach Valecia Tedder. “I told the squad after the game that when Upstate made their second-half run, we showed a maturity that we did not have last season. We had the poise to hold things together, and then Katherine hit those two huge threes.”
3-4-06 4:00 pm at Horne Arena, Greenwood, SC
FRANCIS MARION 63, USC UPSTATE 58
FRANCIS MARION (13-15)
Moore, Danielle 7-13 7-9 22; Young, Brittany 6-13 4-4 18; Kiefer, Katherine
2-3 3-4 9; Downer, Shonelle 3-12 0-0 6; Marsh, Kirby 2-8 0-0 6; Mack,
Shavone 1-8 0-0 2; Guilliams, Renee 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 21-63 14-17 63.
USC UPSTATE (16-13)
Metcalf, Kristen 5-10 2-2 15; Ross, Yakeeshia 4-10 5-9 13; Bradley, Courtney
3-8 4-4 12; Miles, Lele 2-7 0-0 4; Porter, Shanita 1-8 2-4 4; Shuler, Toya
1-5 0-0 3; Johnson, Ebony 1-2 1-2 3; Thompson, Shavon 1-5 0-0 2; Blandin,
Julia 1-5 0-2 2; Pallardy, Shannon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 14-23 58.
Francis Marion................ 34 29 - 63
USC Upstate................... 30 28 - 58
3-point goals-Francis Marion 7-23 (Marsh, Kirby 2-6; Young, Brittany 2-5;
Kiefer, Katherine 2-3; Moore, Danielle 1-3; Guilliams, Renee 0-6), USC
Upstate 6-16 (Metcalf, Kristen 3-6; Bradley, Courtney 2-5; Shuler, Toya 1-4;
Pallardy, Shannon 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, USC Upstate-Ross,
Yakeeshia. Rebounds-Francis Marion 40 (Marsh, Kirby 8; Moore, Danielle 8),
USC Upstate 50 (Ross, Yakeeshia 10). Assists-Francis Marion 11 (Young,
Brittany 5), USC Upstate 13 (Miles, Lele 3; Shuler, Toya 3). Total
fouls-Francis Marion 15, USC Upstate 14. A-221
