PEMBROKE, NC - Senior guard Eboni Fields scored 20 points and led a second-half three-point barrage by Francis Marion University as the 15th-ranked Patriots raced past UNC Pembroke 98-82, Wednesday night (Feb. 3) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion won its eighth straight game to improve to 18-2 overall and 10-1 in the PBC.

Fields hit on 6-of-12 shots from three-point range.  Senior Shana Franks scored 14 points, for her third-straight double-digit effort coming off the Patriot bench.   Senior Precious Tucker scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while junior Shannon Singleton-Bates also tallied 13 points.  Junior point guard Robin Colbert added 11 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

Guard Talena Faison led UNCP (11-10, 5-7) with 21 points, 18 of which came in the second half.

After being tied 41-41 at halftime, the Patriots took a 52-45 advantage.  UNCP responded with a 7-0 spurt to tie the score again at 52-52.  A lay-up by JaToya Kemp gave the Lady Braves a short-lived 55-54 advantage.  Fields then ignited a 16-6 run that put the Patriots ahead to stay.  Her three-pointer was the first of four long-range bombs by the Patriots in a span of only 2:43.

Following four points by UNCP that trimmed the margin to 70-65, Franks scored eight straight points to push the FMU lead to 78-65 with 7:19 remaining.  A three-pointer by freshman Courtney Mealing extended the FMU lead to 83-67 at the 6:15 mark.  UNCP got to within 85-74, but FMU responded with a 10-3 run to seal the win.

The Patriots hit 8-of-16 three-point attempts over the final 20 minutes.

FMU took a pair of early nine-point leads at 23-14 and 25-16, the latter after a bucket by Simone Trice.  UNCP answered with a 14-4 run to take its first lead at 30-29 with 7:19 left in the first half.  The lead see-sawed back and forth until UNCP went up 41-38.  The Patriots scored the final three points of the half on a basket by Fields and a free throw by Colbert as the teams went to the locker room at intermission tied at 41-41. 

FMU forced 36 UNCP turnovers that resulted in 42 points.

The Patriots will return home from their three-game road trip to host Armstrong Atlantic State University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

2-3-10 5:30 pm at Pembroke, NC - English E. Jones Center
#15 FRANCIS MARION 98, UNC PEMBROKE 82
FRANCIS MARION (18-2, 10-1 PBC)
Fields, Eboni 7-14 0-0 20; Franks, Shana 6-17 0-0 14; Tucker, Precious 5-13
3-4 13; Singleton-Bates, Sha 6-16 0-1 13; Colbert, Robin 3-5 5-6 11;
Mealing, Nicole 4-13 0-0 9; Mealing, Courtney 3-7 0-0 8; Trice, Simone 2-2
0-0 4; Bowens, Tiahana 1-3 0-0 2; Mann, Monica 1-2 0-0 2; Downs, Danelle 1-1
0-0 2; Dickerson, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0; Imani, Ana 0-0 0-0 0; Coleman, Dawn 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 39-93 8-11 98.
UNC PEMBROKE (11-10, 5-7 PBC)
Faison,Talena 8-12 3-4 21; Kemp,JaToya 6-11 4-7 16; Cotten,DeDe 5-10 0-1 13;
Jackson,Chevoya 4-7 1-2 9; Hunt,Illya 2-2 3-4 9; Stanton,Briana 2-5 0-0 4;
Knower,Anya 2-3 0-0 4; Ray,DayDay 1-1 1-2 3; Delk,Marquena 1-3 0-0 3;
Bolton,Courtney 0-0 0-0 0; Siddens,Casey 0-0 0-0 0; Zimmerman,Jodi 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 31-54 12-20 82.
Halftime: 41-41
3-point goals--Francis Marion 12-30 (Fields, Eboni 6-12; Franks, Shana 2-6;
Mealing, Courtney 2-3; Singleton-Bates, Sha 1-2; Mealing, Nicole 1-7), UNC
Pembroke 8-12 (Cotten,DeDe 3-5; Hunt,Illya 2-2; Faison,Talena 2-2;
Delk,Marquena 1-2; Knower,Anya 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, UNC
Pembroke-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 42 (Tucker, Precious 8), UNC
Pembroke 38 (Jackson,Chevoya 8). Assists--Francis Marion 17 (Colbert, Robin
5), UNC Pembroke 15 (Jackson,Chevoya 6). Total fouls--Francis Marion 18, UNC
Pembroke 16. Technical fouls--None. A-493