MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- Senior guard Eboni Fields scored a season-high 19 points on six three-pointers as 17th-ranked Francis Marion University rode a red-hot shooting performance to a 111-77 win over Bluefield College (Va.), Sunday afternoon (Dec. 20) at the Carolina's Challenge women's basketball event.

Less than 24 hours after suffering their first loss, the Patriots (9-1) hit their first four field goal attempts and stormed to a 12-0 lead over the Rams after only two minutes.  FMU will now break for the Christmas holidays and will return to action at home on Jan. 2 against UNC Pembroke.

Fields connected on 6-of-9 shots from behind the three-point arc in only 19 minutes of action.  Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while junior point guard Robin Colbert added a season-high 16 points, four assists, and four steals.  Senior Nicole Mealing came off the FMU bench and tallied 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Senior guard Heather Ferrell led Bluefield (8-6) with 16 points, hitting 4-of-6 three-point attempts, while senior guard Brittney Whaley added 13 points, all coming in the second half.

After FMU's quick start, the margin grew to 33-13 at the midway point of the first half.  Francis Marion shot 56.8 percent in the opening half, including 7-of-11 three-point shots.  The Patriots' 66-34 halftime advantage was only three points shy of the school record for points in one half.

The Rams opened the second half by hitting seven of their first eight shots and pulled to within 20 points at 72-52 following a Whaley layup with 15:49 left.  FMU responded with an 11-0 run to push the margin back above 30 points.  The spurt consisted of baskets by five different players.

All 14 Patriots who dressed scored in the contest, including East Carolina University transfer Tiahana Bowens who joined the squad last week.

The FMU defense forced 35 Ram turnovers and converted them into 55 points.  Francis Marion also held a 49-27 rebounding advantage.  For the game, the Patriots shot 54.3 percent from the floor, including 11-of-21 three-pointers.

The game was played before a crowd of 2,100 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and was the first of the day's collegiate tripleheader.

"Considering this was our third game in three days, the energy we exhibited was tremendous," said third-year FMU head coach Heather Macy.  "With the way our game ended on Saturday (a last-second tying shot waived off after the final horn), we wanted to erase that feeling from our minds.  I wasn't sure how our legs would be, but the energy we showed at the start took away any doubt about that.  We came out hungry."

12-20-09 1:00 p.m. at Myrtle Beach (SC) Convention Center (Carolina's Challenge)
#17 FRANCIS MARION 111, BLUEFIELD COLLEGE 77
BLUEFIELD COLLEGE (8-6)
FERRELL, Heather 6-11 0-0 16; WHALEY, Brittney 6-10 1-2 13; HUDSON, Holly
3-6 1-1 9; MORRIS, Katrina 3-3 2-2 8; ROUSE, Takieya 1-3 5-7 7; GILLIARD,
Kia 2-7 1-2 5; RANDALL, Megan 2-3 0-0 5; WILLIAMS, Kiara 1-3 2-2 5;
ARRINGTON, Celinda 1-2 1-2 3; LAWRENCE, Hannah 0-0 2-2 2; DARLING, De'Arra
0-3 2-5 2; CATALDI, Antonia 0-3 2-2 2; DARLING, De'Onna 0-2 0-0 0. Totals
25-56 19-27 77.
FRANCIS MARION (#17 9-1)
Fields, Eboni 6-10 1-2 19; Singleton-Bates, Sha 7-12 3-5 18; Colbert, Robin
5-11 6-6 16; Mealing, Nicole 4-8 1-2 12; Tucker, Precious 4-4 1-2 9; Mann,
Monica 2-4 2-2 7; Downs, Danelle 1-2 5-6 7; Coleman, Dawn 2-4 1-5 5; Trice,
Simone 2-4 1-2 5; Franks, Shana 2-3 0-0 4; Mealing, Courtney 1-3 1-2 3;
Dickerson, Kristen 1-3 1-4 3; Imani, Ana 1-2 0-0 2; Bowens, Tiahana 0-0 1-2
1; Totals 38-70 24-40 111.
Halftime: Francis Marion 66 Bluefield 34
3-point goals--Bluefield College 8-18 (Ferrell 4-6; Hudson 2-5; Randall 1-1; Williams 1-2; Gilliard 0-1; De'A Darling 0-1; Cataldi 0-1; Whaley 0-1), Francis Marion 11-21 (Fields 6-9; N.Mealing 3-5; Mann 1-2; Singleton-Bates 1-1; Franks 0-1; C.Mealing 0-1; Colbert 0-2). Fouled out--Whaley. Rebounds-- Bluefield 27 (Morris 7), Francis Marion 49 (N.Mealing 8). Assists--Bluefield 12 (Aarrington 3; Gilliard 3), Francis Marion 15 (Mann 5). Total fouls--Bluefield 27, Francis Marion 24. Technical fouls--None. A- 2100.