ST. AUGUSTINE, FL - Junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored a game-high 25 points and 18th-ranked Francis Marion University shot 71 percent in the second half en route to a 105-86 Peach Belt Conference win over Flagler College, Wednesday evening (Feb. 24) in women's basketball action.

Francis Marion (23-3 overall, 15-2 in the PBC) keeps pace with the leader in the East Division standings and remains one game behind with one game to play.  The Patriots have won 13 of their last 14 games. FMU will close out its regular season on Saturday night (5:30 p.m.) at Armstrong Atlantic State University. 

Singleton-Bates connected on 11-of-17 field goal attempts and also grabbed six rebounds.  Senior guard Eboni Fields added 17 points, while Nicole Mealing scored 16, Shana Franks 15, and Tiahana Bowens 10.  Fields (4-of-8) and Mealing (4-of-7) led a three-point barrage that saw FMU hit 12-of-24 shots from long range.

Bowens also hauled down five rebounds and blocked three shots.

The point-guard tandum of Robin Colbert (career-high 10 assists) and Monica Mann (career-high tying nine assists) directed a Patriot offense that totaled 35 assists on 44 baskets.  The 35 assists were only four shy of the school record set in 1982.

Guard Charlsea Owens led Flagler (8-18, 3-14) with 21 points, while Jalisa Foster added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Leading by only five points at 37-32, FMU put together an 8-2 spurt that included three-pointers by Mealing and Franks, to lead 45-34.  The Patriots would own a 47-38 advantage at halftime.

Francis Marion opened the second stanza with a 16-8 run over the first four minutes that saw the Patriots can 7-of-8 shots.  Flagler rallied to within eight at 66-58 following a three-point play by Jen Knurek with 13:56 remaining.  However, again FMU caught fire as Fields drained consecutive three-pointers to start a 19-5 spurt.  During that run, which produced an 85-63 Patriot lead, Francis Marion missed only once in nine attempts.

Another three-pointer by Fields with 5:03 left in the game pushed the Francis Marion lead to 98-72.

Altogether, Francis Marion made 24 of 34 second-half shots, including 8-of-10 from three point range.

2-24-10 5:30 p.m. at St. Augustine, FL
#18 FRANCIS MARION 105, FLAGLER 86
FRANCIS MARION (23-3, 15-2 PBC)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 11-17 2-3 25; Fields, Eboni 6-12 1-1 17; Mealing,
Nicole 6-10 0-0 16; Franks, Shana 6-11 0-0 15; Bowens, Tiahana 4-4 2-4 10;
Tucker, Precious 3-8 0-1 6; Trice, Simone 3-5 0-0 6; Colbert, Robin 2-3 0-0
4; Downs, Danelle 2-2 0-0 4; Coleman, Dawn 1-2 0-0 2; Mealing, Courtney 0-0
0-0 0; Imani, Ana 0-0 0-0 0; Mann, Monica 0-1 0-0 0; Dickerson, Kristen 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 44-76 5-9 105.
FLAGLER (8-18, 3-14 PBC)
Owen, Charlsea 8-13 1-4 21; Foster, Jalisa 3-9 7-8 13; Mitchell, Jen 3-8 4-4
11; Knurek, Jen 3-6 5-8 11; Beckett, Chanti 3-7 3-6 9; Donelson, Adrienne
3-4 1-1 7; Bailie, Lauren 2-8 2-2 6; Reddish, Karlyn 2-6 0-0 4; Brown,
Rachel 2-3 0-0 4; Roper, Arianna 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-65 23-33 86.
Halftime: Francis Marion 47 Flagler 38
3-point goals--Francis Marion 12-24 (Fields, Eboni 4-8; Mealing, Nicole 4-7;
Franks, Shana 3-7; Singleton-Bates, Sha 1-1; Mann, Monica 0-1), Flagler 5-12
(Owen, Charlsea 4-5; Mitchell, Jen 1-2; Beckett, Chanti 0-1; Bailie, Lauren
0-2; Reddish, Karlyn 0-1; Roper, Arianna 0-1). Fouled out--Francis
Marion-None, Flagler-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 36 (Tucker, Precious 6;
Singleton-Bates, Sha 6), Flagler 39 (Foster, Jalisa 8). Assists--Francis
Marion 35 (Colbert, Robin 10), Flagler 17 (Bailie, Lauren 3; Owen, Charlsea
3; Mitchell, Jen 3; Donelson, Adrienne 3). Total fouls--Francis Marion 22,
Flagler 14. Technical fouls--None. A-487