DAHLONEGA, GA - Junior guard Eboni Fields scored a career-high 25 points, including 11 straight Francis Marion University points midway through the second half, as the 19th-ranked Patriots claimed a big 74-65 road win at North Georgia College & State University, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion (16-1, 9-1) maintains its 1.5 game lead in the PBC standings as the Patriots reach the midway point in the conference schedule.  FMU also ruined Homecoming for the Lady Saints (5-13, 2-9) before the crowd of 3,189.

Fields came off the FMU bench to hit on 8-of-13 shots, including 6-of-8 three-point attempts.  Sophomore Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior point guard Kevina Ransom added 10 points and six steals.  Sophomore guard Robin Colbert tallied six points, five assists, and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Senior forward Syretha Marble led North Georgia with 21 points and nine rebounds.

FMU led 9-6 early in the opening half, but North Georgia used a 14-2 spurt to take a 20-11 lead with 12:11 left before halftime.  Francis Marion immediately rallied to trim the deficit to 22-20 on a inside basket by Danielle Downs.

A layup by Creshenda Singletary with 1:12 remaining in the first half gave the Patriots a 31-30 lead at intermission.

With the score deadlocked at 34-34 early in the second half, another Singletary layup put FMU up by two.  A layup by Marble with 12:19 left on the clock gave the Lady Saints a 45-44 lead, and after FMU tied the score at 47-47, Marble hit a free throw to give North Georgia a 48-47 advantage with 11:05 remaining.

Fields then began her hot streak with consecutive three-pointers to give Francis Marion a 53-48 lead.  North Georgia answered with back-to-back three-pointers to swing back ahead 54-53 at the 9:04 mark.  Fields then drained two free throws and followed with another three-pointer to put FMU ahead to stay at 58-54.

Entering the final minute, the Patriot lead was only three at 68-65.  However, Ransom hit four straight free throws and Colbert was 2-of-2 at the stripe all in the final 29 seconds to seal the victory.

FMU held a 45-38 rebounding advantage, but had to overcome 29 turnovers.  As a team, the Patriots were 8-of-18 from three-point distance.

The Patriot Women travel to Armstrong Atlantic State University on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.

01/31/09 2:00 PM at Dahlonega, GA
#19 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 74, NORTH GEORGIA 65

FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (16-1, 9-1 PBC)
Fields, Eboni 8-13 3-5 25; Singleton-Bates, Sha 5-10 4-6 14; Ransom, Kevina
3-5 4-6 10; Singletary,Creshenda 3-9 0-0 6; Dyer, Jennifer 2-6 0-0 6;
Colbert, Robin 0-4 6-6 6; Downs, Danelle 2-3 0-0 4; Powell, Dominique 1-6
0-2 2; Franks, Shana 0-5 1-2 1. Totals 24-61 18-27 74.
NORTH GEORGIA (5-13, 2-9 PBC)
Marble, Syretha 6-15 9-13 21; Seeley, Danielle 5-9 0-0 13; Randolph, Whitney
4-11 2-2 10; Stokes, Alyssa 3-9 2-2 9; Stinson, Sarah 3-10 0-2 6;
Montgomery, Meredith 1-7 2-2 4; McCann, Kari 1-2 0-0 2; Durham, Ari'Elle 0-0
0-0 0; Kitchens, Lindsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 15-21 65.
Halftime: Francis Marion 31  North Georgia 30.
3-point goals--Francis Marion University 8-18 (Fields, Eboni 6-8; Dyer,
Jennifer 2-6; Singletary,Creshenda 0-1; Colbert, Robin 0-1; Franks, Shana
0-2), North Georgia 4-13 (Seeley, Danielle 3-4; Stokes, Alyssa 1-3;
Montgomery, Meredith 0-2; McCann, Kari 0-1; Randolph, Whitney 0-2; Marble,
Syretha 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion University-Downs, Danelle, North
Georgia-Seeley, Danielle. Rebounds--Francis Marion University 45 (Colbert,
Robin 11), North Georgia 38 (Marble, Syretha 9; Stinson, Sarah 9).
Assists--Francis Marion University 13 (Colbert, Robin 5), North Georgia 18
(Marble, Syretha 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion University 18, North
Georgia 21. Technical fouls--None. A-3189