FLORENCE, SC - Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored a game-high 25 points and 19th-ranked Francis Marion University never trailed after the opening minutes as the Patriots defeated seventh-ranked Lander University 82-71, Wednesday evening (Feb. 17) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion, which lost a heart-breaking contest to 15th-ranked Clayton State University on Saturday, rebounded by snapping Lander's school-record 14-game winning streak.  The Patriots improve to 21-3 overall and 13-2 in the PBC's East Division, one game behind Lander (21-2, 14-1).

The win came before a Senior Night crowd of 1,750, the largest women's home attendance figure in 27 seasons. 

FMU will next celebrate Homecoming 2010 on Saturday when the Patriots entertain Augusta State University at 1:30 p.m.

Singleton-Bates connected on 10-of-17 field goal attempts, while also grabbing seven rebounds and handing out three assists.  Because the five Patriot seniors started the game, Singleton-Bates' effort was in a reserve role.

Senior guard Eboni Fields scored 16 points, including an 8-of-9 performance at the foul line.  Junior point guard Robin Colbert added 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots, and three steals.

Guard Ciara Lyons led Lander with 24 points, while junior 6-0 center Shannon McKever added 10 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocked shots.

After Lyons hit a pair of free throws to give Lander a 2-0 lead, FMU scored eight straight points and never trailed again.  Lander missed on 25 of its first 26 field goal attempts and trailed 16-7 midway through the half.  The margin was 20-15 after Lyons hit a jump shot with 6:14 left in the first half, but Francis Marion responded with a 9-0 spurt to push the margin to 14 points.  After Lander trimmed the lead to 32-23, the Patriots scored the final six points of the stanza to lead 38-23 at halftime.

The Lady Bearcats quickly cut the deficit to 10 points, 38-28, early in the second half, but FMU answered with an 8-2 run that included five points from Singleton-Bates.  The margin would swell to 18 points (49-31) following a three-pointer by Fields with 16:45 remaining.

Lander would gradually chip away at the Patriot lead and got the margin under double figures near the midway point of the second stanza.  A three-pointer by Jasmine Judge trimmed the margin to 62-54 with 7:15 on the clock.  Francis Marion pushed the advantage back to 13 points with 4:40 left.

A 9-0 run by Lander cut the lead to four points (71-67) after a free throw by Lyons with 2:45 remaining.  Three free throws by Fields ignited a 7-0 FMU spurt that gave the Patriots an insurmountable 78-67 lead with 1:44 left.

Francis Marion shot 38 percent for the game, while holding Lander to 29.9 percent, including only 2-of-13 three-point shots.  The Patriots also hit 22 of 30 free throws, while Lander missed 13 charity tosses.

In a matchup of the No.2 and No.3 scoring offenses in NCAA Division II, Francis Marion led 12-4 in fast-break points.