GREENWOOD, S.C.— Francis Marion University put forth its best defensive effort of the year, holding Augusta State University to only 23.7 percent shooting, but the Patriots couldn’t get their own shots to fall and saw their season end with a 56-46 loss to the Lady Jaguars in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball tournament, Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 28).

Sophomore forward Katherine Kiefer came off the bench to lead FMU with 16 points.  Junior guard Brittany Young tallied 11 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.  The Patriots end their season 6-22, including losses in 10 of the last 11 contests.

The two squads combined to go just 28-of-113 from the floor here, with FMU managing just 25.9 percent.  ASU held a 26-15 advantage in points from the free throw line and outrebounded the Patriots 60-38.

Senior 6-0 forward Shirrell Ford tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead ASU (18-9), while Sherika Parker picked up 11 rebounds to go with her eight points.  The Lady Jaguars move on to face USC Aiken on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Augusta State came out early and jumped to a 12-4 lead in the game’s first five minutes. Francis Marion answered with a 9-0 run to take its only lead of the game at 13-12 on a Kirby Marsh three-pointer. The Lady Jags failed to score for almost seven minutes as FMU went ahead. ASU responded with a 7-0 run of its own to retake the lead, and would carry a 22-19 margin into the lockerroom at halftime.

Francis Marion never got closer than three points in the second half as both teams continued to struggle on the offensive end. The Lady Jags used an 8-2 run to build its first double-digit lead with 9:18 left after two Sherika Parker free throws. The margin would grow to as many as 15 points (56-41) before FMU tallied the final five points.

"Our effort was there, but the execution on the offensive end wasn't," said FMU head coach Valecia Tedder.  "We didn't always take the best shot and turned the ball over too often.  We had hoped, after our offensive showing at North Georgia on Saturday (an 85-83 win), to carry over some confidence into today's contest, but ASU put better defensive pressure on us, and we rushed too much at the offensive end."

AUGUSTA STATE 56, FRANCIS MARION 46

FRANCIS MARION (6-22)
Kiefer, Katherine 3-8 9-11 16; Young, Brittany 4-11 3-3 11; Quinlan, Chelsea
2-4 0-0 5; Downer, Shonelle 2-10 1-2 5; Marsh, Kirby 1-4 1-2 4; Dixon,
Yasmean 1-7 1-3 3; Goff, Vanessa 1-3 0-0 2; Mack, Shavone 0-4 0-0 0; Preal,
Shaketa 0-0 0-0 0; Guilliams, Renee 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-54 15-21 46.
AUGUSTA STATE (18-9)
Ford, Shirrell 4-7 5-7 13; Jarrard, Brittany 2-12 4-4 9; Paschal, Tracey 2-6
4-8 8; Parker, Sherika 1-6 6-8 8; Paschal, Tiffany 2-4 1-3 5; Ngulela, Deo
1-2 1-2 3; Batovska, Alla 1-11 1-3 3; Mealing, Nicole 1-4 0-0 3; Godwin,
Jasmine 0-4 2-2 2; Wyatt, Jamica 0-3 2-2 2; Roberts, Taliah 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 14-59 26-39 56.
Halftime: Augusta State 22  Francis Marion 19.
3-point goals-Francis Marion 3-13 (Quinlan 1-3; Marsh 1-3; Kiefer 1-3;

Guilliams 0-2; Downer 0-1; Young 0-1), Augusta State 2-17 (Mealing

1-2; Jarrard 1-7; Batovska 0-6; Godwin 0-1; Wyatt 0-1). Fouled out—

Francis Marion-Young, Augusta State-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion

38 (Downer 11), Augusta State 60 (Parker 11; Ford 11). Assists-Francis

Marion 6 (six players with one), Augusta State 9 (Batovska 6). Total