FLORENCE, S.C. - Junior guard Eboni Fields scored 17 points to lead seven Patriots in double figures as 17th-ranked Francis Marion University cruised to a 112-68 Peach Belt Conference victory over Georgia Southwestern State University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 7) in women's basketball action.

Francis Marion equals the third-best start in team history at 19-1, while remaining atop the PBC standings at 12-1 with its 10th consecutive win.  The 1997-98 squad also opened 19-1 en route to a 30-3 record and a Final Four appearance.  The 10-game streak is the longest since the 1999-2000 team won 11 consecutive contests.

Fields hit on 4-of-9 three-point attempts in only 15 minutes of action.  Other double-digit scorers were Robin Colbert 14, Shana Franks 13, Jennifer Dyer 13, Kevina Ransom 13, Creshenda Singletary 10, and Shannon Singleton-Bates 10.

Ransom also handed out 11 assists and with eight steals was only two shy of a triple-double, while only playing 20 minutes.  The 5-5 point guard only committed one turnover while directing the Patriot offense.

Junior Brittany Reynolds led Georgia Southwestern (6-15, 1-13) with a game-high 18 points, while connecting on 8-of-11 shots.  Senior center Arile Hadley added 10 points, on 4-of-4 shooting, coming off the Lady Hurricanes' bench.

Dyer nailed three-pointers on the Patriots' opening two possessions and added a layup on the fourth trip down the court as FMU never trailed.  After Georgia Southwestern trimmed the margin to 8-4 on a basket by Nadirah Gardner, FMU scored eight straight points to go up 16-4.

The Patriots would lead by as many as 27 points in the opening half, that coming at 49-22 on a Fields' three-pointer with 3:28 left.  Ransom's running 40-footer at the halftime horn gave FMU a 57-32 advantage at intermission.

The Patriots shot 20-of-35 in the first half for 57.1 percent and 20-of-36 in the second stanza for 55.6 percent.  The Patriots forced 42 turnovers by the Lady Hurricanes and converted them into 41 points.

Francis Marion's largest lead of the game was 110-62 following two free throws by freshman Tenisha Howze with 2:40 remaining.

The point total was the second-highest ever for Francis Marion in a Peach Belt Conference game.

Francis Marion will travel up I-95 to face local-PBC rival UNC Pembroke on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

02-07-09 2 pm at Florence, SC
#17 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 112, GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN 68

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN (6-15 , 1-13)
Reynolds, Brittany 8-11 2-3 18; Hadley, Arile 4-4 2-2 10; Sharp, Jamilah 4-6
1-1 9; Branch, Terra 2-6 2-2 7; Wiltz, Whitley 1-2 5-6 7; Gardner, Nadirah
1-7 4-4 6; Burris, Brandi 3-8 0-1 6; Elkins, Sylvia 1-4 0-0 3; Pullen,
Cherelle 0-3 2-2 2; Thomas, Krystal 0-1 0-0 0; Corbett, Clarissa 0-0 0-0 0;
Smith, Brittany 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 18-21 68.
#17 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (#17  19-1 , 12-1)
Fields, Eboni 6-11 1-3 17; Colbert, Robin 5-6 4-4 14; Ransom, Kevina 4-5 4-4
13; Franks, Shana 5-8 2-2 13; Dyer, Jennifer 5-8 0-0 13; Singleton-Bates,
Sha 3-6 4-4 10; Singletary,Creshenda 2-5 6-10 10; Powell, Dominique 3-6 0-0
6; Downs, Danelle 3-4 0-0 6; Howze, Tenisha 1-1 2-2 4; Morgan, Shaquana 2-4
0-0 4; Ruff, Evelyn 1-3 0-0 2; Kiefer, Katherine 0-4 0-0 0; Wheatland,
Keahna 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-71 23-29 112.
Halftime: Francis Marion 57 Georgia Southwestern 32
3-point goals--Georgia Southwestern 2-9 (Elkins, Sylvia 1-2; Branch, Terra
1-3; Burris, Brandi 0-2; Pullen, Cherelle 0-2), Francis Marion University
9-20 (Fields, Eboni 4-9; Dyer, Jennifer 3-6; Franks, Shana 1-2; Ransom,
Kevina 1-1; Ruff, Evelyn 0-1; Kiefer, Katherine 0-1). Fouled out--Georgia
Southwestern-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Georgia
Southwestern 31 (Sharp, Jamilah 4; Wiltz, Whitley 4; Reynolds, Brittany 4),
Francis Marion University 29 (Singletary,Creshenda 6). Assists--Georgia
Southwestern 15 (Wiltz, Whitley 5), Francis Marion University 28 (Ransom,
Kevina 11). Total fouls--Georgia Southwestern 21, Francis Marion University
20. Technical fouls--None. A-480