SALISBURY, N.C. – The Francis Marion University women’s basketball team dropped a pair of games at the 2006 Comfort Suites Classic, hosted by Catawba College, Nov. 24-25 in Salisbury, N.C. The Patriots lost to Carson-Newman College 69-52 on Nov. 24, and then fell to the host school 85-70 on Nov. 25.
In the opening game, junior guard Brittany Young led Francis Marion (2-2) with 13 points and three assists. However, she hit only 4-of-14 field goal attempts. Patriot junior guard Renee Guilliams contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, but shot only 3-of-12 from the field. Shonelle Downer led the Patriots with eight rebounds, and both Downer and junior center Shavone Mack blocked six shots for FMU.
Freshman point guard Casha Foster tallied 14 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), seven assists and six rebounds to lead Carson-Newman (3-0).
Carson-Newman led 36-28 at halftime, and never trailed in the contest. Foster had nine of her 14 points after intermission as the Eagles pulled away for the win.
Francis Marion did score the first five points of the second half to pull within 36-33 on a jumper by Young with 18:09 to play. Carson-Newman answered with a 13-0 run to put the game away, including five points from freshman forward Shari Buford. Buford’s single free throw put Carson-Newman up 49-33 with 11:07 to go. The Patriots went almost 10 minutes without a field goal before Downer hit an inside hoop at the 8:36 mark to make the score 52-39.
Francis Marion would get no closer than 10 points down the stretch. The Patriots hit only 29.0 percent (18-of-62) of their field goals, converting only 27.6 percent in the second half (eight-of-29). Both teams committed 26 turnovers each. Carson-Newman did not fare much better from the floor, hitting 35.6 percent (26-of-73) of its field goal attempts, but the Eagles outrebounded the Patriots 56-42.
In the second game, Young again paced the Patriots. She recorded 17 points, on 8-of-11 shooting, and four assists. She was named to the All-Tournament Team. Junior forward Vanessa Goff posted career highs of 13 points and nine rebounds, while Downer added 16 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore Brittany Higgins scored a career-high 22 points to lead Catawba (4-1). The first half saw seven lead changes with Sicilia LoSauro giving Catawba the lead for good at 18-17 with 10:41 to go in the opening half. The Indians held a 37-34 lead at the break.
Francis Marion cut a nine-point deficit to just three at 56-53 on a jumper by Mack with 10:20 left, but three baskets by Higgins helped Catawba to a 66-55 edge with 7:48 remaining. The Patriots pulled to within six at 70-64 with 5:20 to go, only to see Catawba reel off nine straight points to take command.
Catawba got three double-figure scoring games off the bench as Corin Muldrow, who was named the Classic MVP, added 15 points, while LoSauro chipped in 13 and Ne’Keithia Howard 11. Higgins and Hillary Hampton (Salisbury, NC) were also named to the All-Classic team from Catawba.
FMU will travel to Erskine College for a 5:30 p.m. game on Tuesday.
CARSON-NEWMAN 69, FRANCIS MARION 52
FRANCIS MARION (2-2)
Young, Brittany 4-14 4-5 13; Guilliams, Renee 3-12 3-4 11; Marsh, Kirby 2-6
3-4 8; Downer, Shonelle 3-7 0-2 6; Goff, Vanessa 2-7 1-2 5; Mack, Shavone
2-5 0-0 4; Quinlan, Chelsea 1-5 0-0 3; Kiefer, Katherine 1-3 0-0 2;
Gandy-Miller, Sienna 0-2 0-0 0; Dixon, Yasmean 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 18-62 11-19
52.
CARSON-NEWMAN (3-0)
Casha Foster 6-7 1-1 14; Emily Mason 5-10 3-5 13; Stefanie Holbrook 3-8 1-2
10; Tashea LedBetter 4-10 0-2 8; Tykira McDaniel 2-5 2-2 7; Shari Buford 2-5
2-4 6; Angela Volentine 2-7 0-0 5; Ashley Tipton 1-6 0-0 3; Cassie Burks 1-6
0-0 3; Lindsey Eggleston 0-8 0-0 0; Ashley Kyle 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-73 9-16
69.
Francis Marion................ 28 24 - 52
Carson-Newman................. 36 33 - 69
3-point goals-Francis Marion 5-14 (Guilliams, Renee 2-6; Quinlan, Chelsea
1-2; Young, Brittany 1-2; Marsh, Kirby 1-3; Kiefer, Katherine 0-1),
Carson-Newman 8-23 (Stefanie Holbrook 3-7; Casha Foster 1-1; Tykira McDaniel
1-1; Cassie Burks 1-6; Ashley Tipton 1-4; Angela Volentine 1-1; Lindsey
Eggleston 0-2; Ashley Kyle 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None,
Carson-Newman-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 42 (Downer, Shonelle 8),
Carson-Newman 56 (Ashley Tipton 8; Emily Mason 8). Assists-Francis Marion 10
(Young, Brittany 3), Carson-Newman 15 (Casha Foster 7). Total fouls-Francis
Marion 16, Carson-Newman 18. A-171
CATAWBA 85, FRANCIS MARION 70
FRANCIS MARION (2-3)
Young, Brittany 8-11 1-3 17; Downer, Shonelle 8-12 0-1 16; Goff, Vanessa 6-9
1-2 13; Mack, Shavone 4-10 1-1 9; Guilliams, Renee 3-10 0-0 8; Quinlan,
Chelsea 1-4 2-2 4; Kiefer, Katherine 1-2 0-0 2; Dixon, Yasmean 0-0 1-2 1;
Marsh, Kirby 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 6-11 70.
CATAWBA (4-1)
Higgins, Brittany 9-16 4-4 22; Muldrow, Corin 6-8 2-2 14; LoSauro, Sicilia
5-7 1-4 13; Howard, NeKeithia 4-9 3-3 11; Foster, Tameka 4-8 1-2 9;
Bartlett, Cristi 2-9 2-2 6; Hampton, Hillary 2-6 0-0 5; Easter, Ingrid 1-4
1-2 3; Colombo, Gia 0-2 2-2 2; Childs, Salita 0-0 0-0 0; Whitley, Brooke 0-1
0-0 0; Baxter, Andrell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-71 16-21 85.
Francis Marion................ 34 36 - 70
Catawba....................... 37 48 - 85
3-point goals-Francis Marion 2-8 (Guilliams, Renee 2-7; Quinlan, Chelsea
0-1), Catawba 3-7 (LoSauro, Sicilia 2-2; Hampton, Hillary 1-2; Foster,
Tameka 0-1; Colombo, Gia 0-1; Higgins, Brittany 0-1). Fouled out--Francis
Marion-Young, Brittany, Catawba-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 35 (Goff,
Vanessa 9), Catawba 41 (Bartlett, Cristi 9). Assists-Francis Marion 19
(Marsh, Kirby 6), Catawba 24 (Colombo, Gia 9). Total fouls-Francis Marion
17, Catawba 14. A-201
