Box Score FLORENCE, SC - Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored a
season-high 23 points in only 22 minutes of action and the Francis
Marion University pull-court defense continued to force turnovers
as the 22nd-ranked Patriots defeated St. Augustine's College 86-56,
Friday afternoon (Nov. 27) in non-conference women's college
basketball action.
Francis Marion improves to 4-0 and wins its 18th straight
contest against non-conference opponents. The Patriots, who
had forced 150 turnovers in their opening three contests, forced
the Lady Falcons into 49 on Friday and FMU converted them into 45
points.
Singleton-Bates connected on 7-of-14 shots from the floor and
8-of-9 free throw attempts. Seniors Precious Tucker and
Nicole Mealing both came off the Francis Marion bench and tallied
13 and 10 points respectively. Tucker also grabbed a
game-high eight rebounds. Thirteen of the 14 Patriots scored
in the game.
Sophomore 6-0 forward Keyona Bryant led St. Augustine's (2-2)
with 18 points and seven rebounds. She hit 6-of-8 field goal
attempts. Both LeKeisha White and Allison Sikes chipped in
nine points apiece.
Francis Marion scored the game's opening 12 points and never
trailed. The Lady Falcons did trim the margin to 17-14 on a
Bryant layup with 14:19 left in the first half. FMU responded
with a 13-1 run, including six points by Singleton-Bates, to go
ahead 30-15. The Patriots led 45-31 at halftime.
Bryant and White opened the second stanza with baskets to cut
the deficit to 45-35, but again the Patriots answered, this time
with a 13-2 run to open a 58-37 advantage. St. Augustine's
did cut the margin to 15 points (60-45) following a pair of
free throws by Sikes with 11:18 left, but an 11-2 spurt by the
Patriots upped the lead to an insurmountable 71-47.
Altogether, Francis Marion received 52 points from its
reserves. The Patriots shot 42 percent from the floor and
made a season-high nine three-pointers. FMU held St.
Augustine's to 36.2 percent shooting and only 1-of-3 from beyond
the three-point arc. The Lady Falcons did hit on 21 of 31
attempts from the free throw line.
Francis Marion returns to action on Saturday as the Patriot
Women host Allen University at 2 p.m. St. Augustine's travels
to St. Paul's on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
11-27-09 2 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University
Center)
#22 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 86, ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE
56
ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE (2-2)
BRYANT,Keyona 6-8 6-9 18; SIKES,Allison 3-11 3-6 9; WHITE,LeKeisha
3-8 3-4
9; BROWN,Ariel 2-9 4-6 8; WILLIAMS,Jolisa 1-2 0-0 3;
HUBBARD,Scharlawn 1-4
0-0 2; JENKINS,Brittany 0-3 2-2 2; REESE,Rudeesha 1-1 0-0 2;
DAVIS,Jalessia
0-0 2-2 2; ICESON,Eliezer 0-0 1-2 1; MCCAFFITY,Crystal 0-0 0-0
0;
WATSON,Tabitha 0-0 0-0 0; BROWN,Cassandra 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-47
21-31 56.
#22 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (#22 4-0)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 7-14 8-9 23; Tucker, Precious 5-10 3-5 13;
Mealing,
Nicole 4-10 0-2 10; Mealing, Courtney 4-8 0-0 9; Coleman, Dawn 2-4
0-2 6;
Mann, Monica 1-3 3-4 6; Colbert, Robin 2-6 0-0 4; Franks, Shana
1-2 1-2 4;
Imani, Ana 1-1 1-1 3; Trice, Simone 1-1 0-0 3; Fields, Eboni 1-7
0-0 2;
Dickerson, Kristen 0-0 2-2 2; Downs, Danelle 0-2 1-2 1; Wilson,
Tiffany 0-1
0-1 0. Totals 29-69 19-30 86.
Halftime: Francis Marion 45 St. Augustine's College 31
3-point goals--St. Augustine's College 1-3 (WILLIAMS 1-1;
WHITE 0-1; BROWN,
0-1), Francis Marion 9-22 (N. Mealing 2-5; Coleman 2-3;
Franks 1-2; Mann
1-2; Trice 1-1; C.Mealing 1-4; Singleton-Bates 1-2; Fields 0-3).
Fouled out-
SIKES, Franks. Rebounds--St. Augustine's 47 (BRYANT 7;
DAVIS 7), Francis
Marion 34 (Tucker 8). Assists--St. Augustine's 8 (SIKES
3), Francis Marion 19
(Downs 3; Colbert 3; Fields 3). Total fouls--St.
Augustine's 27, Francis
Marion 27. Technical fouls--None. A-153
Charges drawn: Downs 2, Sikes
