Jennings spoils FMU’s Homecoming as Patriot women lose 76-74
FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Dominique Jennings scored Clayton State University’s final five points, including three clutch free throws in the final seconds, as the Lakers upset 23rd-ranked Francis Marion University 76-74, Saturday afternoon (March 1) in Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball action.
The loss kept the Patriots (20-7, 13-7) from capturing the PBC regular-season crown outright before a Homecoming crowd of 1,627. Instead, FMU must share the crown with either three or four teams depending on Sunday’s final conference game between USC Aiken and GC&SU. However, regardless of that outcome, Francis Marion will be the number one seed for this coming week’s Peach Belt Tournament in Aiken, S.C. FMU will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Junior forward Creshenda Singletary led Francis Marion with a season-high 23 points, one shy of her career high. Senior guard Brittany Young, playing her final regular-season home game, scored 13 points and moved passed three former Patriot cagers to assume 19th place on the career scoring list with 1,163. Junior Jennifer Dyer added 10 points.
Clayton State (18-9, 13-7), one of the squads that will share the championship with FMU, was led by senior forward Shantel Ragin with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Shanrika Hardeman and Marie St. Fort tallied 13 and 12 points respectively. Hardeman also hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
Inspired by a starting line-up of five seniors, Francis Marion jumped to a quick 16-6 lead. Clayton State then answered with nine straight points, and the Lakers would eventually take a 20-18 lead on a thre-pointer by Arlanderia Whitlock. The Patriots answered with a 12-2 spurt to take a 30-22 advantage, only to see the Lakers respond with another 9-0 run to go back ahead. Francis Marion would eventually take a 40-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Early in the second stanza, Clayton State used a 17-3 run to go ahead 57-48 with 12:50 remaining. Francis Marion ran off eight straight points to pull to within 57-56 following a layup by Yasmean Dixon with 9:45 left. In keeping with the game of streaks theme, Clayton State then scored 14 of the game’s next 18 points to forge ahead 71-60 with 5:46 on the clock.
Spurred on by the noisy crowd, Francis Marion ran off 11 straight points to knot the game at 71-71, following a layup by Young with 1:20 remaining. Singletary had three buckets in that rally.
Jennings put the Lakers up 73-71 on a layup, but a three-pointer from the left corner by FMU junior Kevina Ransom gave FMU a 74-73 advantage with 14.4 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Jennings was fouled driving to the hoop and she calmly drained both free throws with 8.8 ticks left putting CSU up 75-74. Driving down the floor, Ransom had the ball stolen from her by Roberta Phillips and Jennings made the second of two foul shots with 2.1 seconds left to account for the final margin. Following her second make, FMU was unable to get off a potential game-tying or winning shot.
Francis Marion forced 31 turnovers by Clayton State, but the Patriots committed a season-high equaling 33 miscues. Clayton State struggled at the foul line in the opening half (8-of-14), but nailed 14-of-17 in the final 20 minutes.
The PBC championship is only the second for FMU, and the first since 1999.
At Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
CLAYTON STATE 76, #23 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 74
CLAYTON STATE (18-9 , 13-7 PBC)
Ragin, Shantel 7-15 5-6 19; Hardeman, Shanrika 6-10 1-5 13; St. Fort, Marie
3-12 5-6 12; Jennings, Dominique 2-8 5-7 9; Larry, Kimberly 3-5 3-3 9;
Phillips, Roberta 2-10 2-2 6; Whitlock, Arlanderia 2-2 0-0 5; Jackson, Lisa
1-1 1-2 3; Yates, Tierra 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 22-31 76.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (#23 20-7 , 13-7)
Singletary,Creshenda 9-13 5-6 23; Young, Brittany 5-11 3-5 13; Dyer,
Jennifer 3-9 2-2 10; Singleton-Bates, Sha 4-11 0-0 8; Ransom, Kevina 2-2 0-0
5; Dixon, Yasmean 1-3 3-4 5; Allen, Ebony 1-6 2-2 4; Morgan, Shaquana 1-6
0-0 2; Guilliams, Renee 1-1 0-0 2; Grayson, Rita 0-3 2-2 2; Downer, Shonelle
0-0 0-0 0; Marsh, Kirby 0-0 0-0 0; Ruff, Evelyn 0-0 0-0 0; Mack, Shavone 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 27-66 17-21 74.
Halftime: Francis Marion 40 Clayton State 36.
3-point goals-Clayton State 2-13 (St. Fort, Marie 1-6; Whitlock, Arlanderia
1-1; Jennings, Dominique 0-3; Phillips, Roberta 0-2; Ragin, Shantel 0-1),
Francis Marion University 3-12 (Dyer, Jennifer 2-5; Ransom, Kevina 1-1;
Morgan, Shaquana 0-1; Grayson, Rita 0-2; Young, Brittany 0-2;
Singletary,Creshenda 0-1). Fouled out--Clayton State-None, Francis Marion
University-None. Rebounds-Clayton State 40 (Hardeman, Shanrika 10), Francis
Marion University 41 (Dixon, Yasmean 6). Assists-Clayton State 17 (Ragin,
Shantel 6), Francis Marion University 14 (Dyer, Jennifer 4). Total
fouls-Clayton State 19, Francis Marion University 23. A-1627
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