FLORENCE, S.C. – Junior guard Brittany Young scored 15 points, handed out 10 assists, and hit three key free throws in the final 22 seconds to help lift Francis Marion University to a 68-64 Peach Belt Conference win over USC Aiken, Wednesday evening (Jan. 17) in women’s basketball action.
The Patriots stopped a school-record nine-game losing skid and improved to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in the PBC. Young moved pass former FMU great Kim Slawson into sixth place on the school’s career assists list with 371.
Junior 6-4 center Shavone Mack followed Young with a season-high 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The Cross, S.C., native also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots. Sophomore Katherine Kiefer came off the FMU bench to add 12 points.
Junior forward Avonte Williams led USCA (10-6, 2-3) with 18 points, 16 of which came after intermission. She also hauled down eight rebounds. Guard Meredith Legg chipped in 11 points.
Francis Marion connected on 12 of its first 21 field goal attempts and led 30-8 after 16 minutes. In contrast, the Pacers missed 13 of 16 shots and committed 15 turnovers during that span.
USCA did rally slightly to trail 35-18 at halftime.
The Pacers began the second stanza with a 17-5 run to trim the FMU lead to 40-35 with 14:50 left. A pair of three-pointers by FMU freshman Chelsea Quinlan helped Francis Marion push its margin back to 12 points at 48-26 with 13 minutes remaining.
The Pacers gradually chipped away at the deficit and a three-pointer by Mindy Allee with 5:26 left put the visitors ahead 58-57. Two free throws by Legg gave the Pacers a 62-61 lead with 1:06 on the clock.
FMU regained the lead on a Mack jumper with 46 ticks left, and following a Legg miss, extended the margin to 65-62 on two Young charity tosses. Williams drained two shots from the free throw line with 16 seconds remaining to bring USCA to within 65-64, but three seconds later, Kiefer restored the margin to three points with two free throws. Kendra Chandler then missed a potential game-tying three-pointer and Young sealed the win with a free throw with less than a second left.
FMU ended the game shooting a season-best 52 percent, while holding the Pacers to 36.4 percent. Despite holding a 40-24 rebounding advantage, USCA led only 5-2 in second-chance points.
FMU will play at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Ga., Saturday at 2 p.m., while USC Aiken plays host to Georgia College & State University on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
1-17-07 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 68, USC AIKEN 64
USC AIKEN (10-6 , 2-3 PBC)
Williams, Avonte 7-10 2-2 18; Legg, Meredith 3-9 2-2 11; Chandler, Kendra
3-9 3-4 9; Allee, Mindy 3-7 0-0 9; Grant, Nola 1-4 5-6 7; Thomas, Jordon 2-7
2-3 6; Bennett, Nichole 0-1 2-2 2; Starnes, Megan 1-4 0-0 2; Leppanen, Satu
0-2 0-2 0; Coward, Lauri 0-1 0-0 0; Broadwater, LaToshia 0-0 0-0 0; Soules,
Alicia 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 16-21 64.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (4-12 , 1-4 PBC)
Young, Brittany 6-11 3-4 15; Mack, Shavone 7-13 0-0 14; Kiefer, Katherine
4-6 3-4 12; Quinlan, Chelsea 2-4 1-2 7; Guilliams, Renee 2-7 0-0 6; Marsh,
Kirby 2-4 0-0 5; Preal, Shaketa 2-2 1-2 5; Dixon, Yasmean 1-3 2-3 4; Cook,
Erin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 10-15 68.
Halftime: Francis Marion 35 USC Aiken 18.
3-point goals-USC Aiken 8-20 (Allee, Mindy 3-5; Legg, Meredith 3-9;
Williams, Avonte 2-2; Starnes, Megan 0-3; Chandler, Kendra 0-1), Francis
Marion University 6-16 (Guilliams, Renee 2-7; Quinlan, Chelsea 2-3; Kiefer,
Katherine 1-2; Marsh, Kirby 1-3; Young, Brittany 0-1). Fouled out--USC
Aiken-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 40 (Williams,
Avonte 8), Francis Marion University 24 (Mack, Shavone 7). Assists-USC Aiken
15 (Chandler, Kendra 5), Francis Marion University 18 (Young, Brittany 10).
Total fouls-USC Aiken 16, Francis Marion University 16. A-325
