DAHLONEGA, GA - Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 21 points and senior Shana Franks added 20 as 15th-ranked Francis Marion University captured its 10th straight win with a 93-70 road victory over North Georgia College & State University, Wednesday evening (Feb. 10) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion (20-2 overall, 12-1 in the PBC) reaches the 20-win plateau for the third time in head coach Heather Macy's three seasons and for the 22nd time in the program's 36-year history.  The Patriots will return home to meet Clayton State University, also ranked 15th this week, in a key PBC showdown, Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Singleton-Bates connected on 8-of-15 shots, while Franks was 8-of-13.  Since taking on a reserve role off the Patriot bench, Franks has averaged 16.2 points per game over the past five contests.  Senior guard Eboni Fields added 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.  Over her past three games, Fields is 16-of-28 from three-point distance.  Precious Tucker contributed eight points and a game-high11 rebounds.

Forward Janyce Ealey led North Georgia (9-12, 4-8) with 16 points, while Whitney Randolph tallied 13 points and eight rebounds.

For the second straight game, Francis Marion never trailed.  The score was tied twice in the early minutes, but the Patriots forged ahead for good at 11-8 following a three-pointer by Franks.  Leading only 31-24, the Patriots scored 16 of the game's next 18 points to take a 47-26 advantage just two minutes before intermission. 

North Georgia closed the stanza with a 10-0 rally to close to within 47-36 at halftime.  A Lady Saints' basket to open the second half pushed the run to 12-0 and narrowed the margin to 47-38, before Singleton-Bates broke the cold spell with a jump shot. 

A layup by Ealey further closed the margin to six points at 51-45 with 15:34 remaining.  Franks and Fields then combined for an 11-0 run that gave Francis Marion a more comfortable 62-45 lead.  The Patriot lead would gradually grow to 30 points at 90-60 following a layup by Tiahana Bowens with 2:45 left.

The Patriots forced 30 North Georgia turnovers that were converted into 40 points.  FMU hit 45.6 percent of its shots, including 6-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc.

2-10-10 5:30 p.m. at Dahlonega, GA
#15 FRANCIS MARION 93, NORTH GEORGIA 70
FRANCIS MARION (#15  20-2, 12-1)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 8-15 5-6 21; Franks, Shana 8-13 1-1 20; Fields, Eboni
5-9 3-3 16; Tucker, Precious 4-10 0-1 8; Bowens, Tiahana 3-3 1-3 7; Colbert,
Robin 2-5 3-7 7; Coleman, Dawn 2-3 1-4 5; Mealing, Courtney 2-8 0-0 4;
Downs, Danelle 1-5 0-0 2; Mealing, Nicole 1-2 0-0 2; Trice, Simone 0-3 1-2
1; Dickerson, Kristen 0-1 0-0 0; Imani, Ana 0-1 0-0 0; Mann, Monica 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 36-79 15-27 93.
NORTH GEORGIA (9-12, 4-8)
Ealey, Janyce 4-11 8-14 16; Randolph, Whitney 5-9 3-5 13; Montgomery,
Meredith 3-9 1-3 9; Seeley, Danielle 3-8 3-4 9; Marlow, Tiffany 3-4 1-2 7;
McCann, Kari 1-5 3-3 5; Alexander, Ieshia 0-2 5-6 5; Stinson, Sarah 1-1 2-2
4; Howard, Jessica 0-1 2-2 2; Cline, Ali 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 28-41 70.
Halftime: Francis Marion 47 North Georgia 36
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-12 (Franks, Shana 3-4; Fields, Eboni 3-5;
Mealing, Courtney 0-2; Singleton-Bates, Sha 0-1), North Georgia 2-9
(Montgomery, Meredith 2-4; McCann, Kari 0-4; Ealey, Janyce 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-Bowens, Tiahana, North Georgia-Randolph, Whitney.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 49 (Tucker, Precious 11), North Georgia 35
(Randolph, Whitney 8). Assists--Francis Marion 20 (Colbert, Robin 8), North
Georgia 9 (Montgomery, Meredith 2; Howard, Jessica 2). Total fouls--Francis
Marion 31, North Georgia 23. Technical fouls--None. A-328