FLORENCE, SC - Senior guard Eboni Fields paced five Patriots in double figures with 17 points as 19th-ranked Francis Marion University rolled to an 89-47 Homecoming win over Augusta State University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion improves to 22-3 overall and 14-2 in the PBC and remains one game behind the leader in the PBC East Division.  ASU suffers its 22nd straight defeat and drops to 1-25 and 0-17.

Following Fields in the scoring column were senior Nicole Mealing (14), junior Shannon Singleton-Bates (14), junior Tiahana Bowens (13), and senior Precious Tucker (11).  Bowens hit on 6-of-7 shots en route to her season-high total and she also grabbed off a game-high eight rebounds.

Reserve senior forward Kirsten Stallings led ASU with 12 and four rebounds off the bench, while freshman forward Waneta Carlisle added 10 points.

Playing before a crowd of 1,755, which bested Wednesday's Senior Night attendance by just a handful of people, FMU scored the game's opening six points and never trailed.

A three-pointer by ASU's Blaire Egardo trimmed the early margin to 12-7, but FMU responded with an 11-0 run to go ahead 23-7.  Following a Lady Jaguar basket, Francis Marion scored 13 straight points to lead 36-9 with five minute left in the first half.  ASU missed on 15 of its first 19 field goal attempts.

Francis Marion held the Lady Jaguars to only six first-half field goals and led 48-19 at intermission.

The margin was never less than 29 throughout the second stanza.  The Patriots' largest advantage came at 89-44 following a pair of Courtney Mealing free throws with 36 ticks left.

Francis Marion forced 30 ASU turnovers that resulted in 33 points.  The Patriots held a commanding 53-28 rebounding advantage that led to a 27-2 lead in second-chance points.

FMU will play its final two regular-season games on the road at Flagler College on Wednesday and at Armstrong Atlantic State University on Saturday.  The Patriots will host a first-round PBC Tournament game on March 2 at 7 p.m.

2-20-10 1:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
#19 FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 89, AUGUSTA STATE 47
AUGUSTA STATE (1-25 , 0-17 PBC)
Stallings, Kirsten 4-9 4-4 12; Carlisle, Waneta 3-5 4-5 10; Egardo, Blaire
3-9 2-3 9; Brown, Ashley 1-3 2-2 4; Foster, Candace 1-2 0-0 3; Harris,
Breanna 1-2 1-1 3; Aifuwa, Tracy 1-2 1-2 3; Davis, Eboni 1-6 0-0 2; Evans,
Briyana 0-3 1-2 1; Jarrard, Brittany 0-0 0-0 0; Alexander, Theresa 0-0 0-2
0; Woods, Jarquella 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-43 15-21 47.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (#19 22-3 , 14-2)
Fields, Eboni 7-15 0-0 17; Singleton-Bates, Sha 6-17 1-2 14; Mealing, Nicole
5-12 1-1 14; Bowens, Tiahana 6-7 1-2 13; Tucker, Precious 4-8 3-4 11; Mann,
Monica 2-2 0-0 6; Colbert, Robin 2-3 0-0 4; Mealing, Courtney 1-4 2-2 4;
Imani, Ana 1-3 0-1 2; Trice, Simone 0-1 2-4 2; Coleman, Dawn 1-4 0-0 2;
Dickerson, Kristen 0-1 0-0 0; Franks, Shana 0-3 0-0 0; Downs, Danelle 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 35-81 10-16 89.
Halftime: Francis Marion 48  Augusta State  19
3-point goals--Augusta State 2-12 (Egardo, Blaire 1-6; Foster, Candace 1-2;
Davis, Eboni 0-3; Carlisle, Waneta 0-1), Francis Marion University 9-27
(Mealing, Nicole 3-7; Fields, Eboni 3-10; Mann, Monica 2-2; Singleton-Bates,
Sha 1-5; Mealing, Courtney 0-1; Franks, Shana 0-2). Fouled out--Augusta
State-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Augusta State 28
(Aifuwa, Tracy 5; Carlisle, Waneta 5), Francis Marion University 53 (Bowens,
Tiahana 8). Assists--Augusta State 10 (Davis, Eboni 5), Francis Marion
University 23 (Colbert, Robin 6). Total fouls--Augusta State 17, Francis
Marion University 22. Technical fouls--None. A-1755