MORROW, GA. – Guard Roberta Phillips scored 15 points and 17th-ranked Clayton State University held off a pesky Francis Marion University squad for a 72-62 Peach Belt Conference victory, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 6) in women’s basketball action.
Junior forward Shonelle Downer came off the Francis Marion bench to score a season-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. She also hauled down five rebounds. Junior guard Brittany Young scored six points, while handing out a career-high 13 assists.
The Patriots drop to 3-10 overall and 0-2 in the PBC with their seventh consecutive loss, and 14th straight defeat at the hands of a nationally ranked opponent.
Following Phillips for the Lakers (12-1, 2-0) were Shantel Ragin and Sharon Wiles with 12 points each.
FMU led only once in the first half, at 6-5 on a Shavone Mack jumper, after which Clayton State gradually built a 40-30 halftime advantage.
The margin grew to 12 points (43-31) early in the second stanza, and with 11 minutes left, the Lakers led 51-42. Freshman guard Chelsea Quinlan then sparked a 9-0 run by Francis Marion that knotted the score at 51-51 with 8:51 remaining. Her three-pointer concluded the spurt and tied the score.
Clayton State then scored the next six points to regain a lead they would not relinquish. A layup by FMU sophomore Katherine Kiefer drew the Patriots to within 67-62 with 58 ticks left, but following a Laker miss at the free throw stripe, Quinlan missed a three-pointer that would have cut the margin to two points. Clayton State made 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
Turnovers (24) again hampered the Francis Marion cause, and the Patriots hit only 5-of-12 free throws. Clayton State committed only 10 miscues and hit 22-of-30 charity tosses.
Francis Marion will play at USC Upstate, Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
1-6-07 2 pm at Morrow, Ga. (Athletics & Fitness Center)
CLAYTON STATE 72, FRANCIS MARION 62
FRANCIS MARION (3-10, 0-2)
Downer, Shonelle 8-9 1-1 17; Kiefer, Katherine 3-4 1-2 8; Marsh, Kirby 2-6
0-0 6; Young, Brittany 2-6 2-6 6; Goff, Vanessa 3-9 0-1 6; Guilliams, Renee
2-5 0-0 5; Quinlan, Chelsea 2-7 0-0 5; Mack, Shavone 2-3 1-2 5; Preal,
Shaketa 1-2 0-0 2; Dixon, Yasmean 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-52 5-12 62.
#17 CLAYTON STATE (12-1, 2-0)
Phillips, Roberta 5-12 1-2 15; Ragin, Shantel 5-11 1-1 12; Wiles, Sharon
3-10 6-6 12; St. Fort, Marie 2-10 4-7 8; Humphrey, Alecia 3-8 2-3 8; Brown,
Crystal 1-8 3-4 5; Pritchett, Nikkisha 2-7 1-1 5; Jackson, Lynette 0-3 4-6
4; Bukowska, Basia 1-1 0-0 3; Browne, Tracey 0-0 0-0 0; Lloyd, Kim 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 22-71 22-30 72.
Halftime: Clayton State 40 Francis Marion 30.
3-point goals-Francis Marion 5-11 (Marsh, Kirby 2-4; Kiefer, Katherine 1-1;
Quinlan, Chelsea 1-4; Guilliams, Renee 1-2), Clayton State 6-20 (Phillips,
Roberta 4-8; Bukowska, Basia 1-1; Ragin, Shantel 1-1; Pritchett, Nikkisha
0-4; Lloyd, Kim 0-1; St. Fort, Marie 0-4; Wiles, Sharon 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, Clayton State-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 39
(Goff, Vanessa 5; Downer, Shonelle 5), Clayton State 47 (Jackson, Lynette
11). Assists-Francis Marion 24 (Young, Brittany 13), Clayton State 13
(Phillips, Roberta 3; Ragin, Shantel 3). Total fouls-Francis Marion 19,
Clayton State 16. A-93
