AIKEN, SC - The nation's second-highest scoring offense turned to its defense in the second half as 17th-ranked Francis Marion University rallied past Georgia College & State University 66-61, Saturday afternoon (March 6) in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Patriots, seeded second from the East Division, improve to 26-3, while GCSU, the West Division's No. 1 seed, falls to 21-8.  FMU advances to Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. where the Patriots will face Clayton State University.  CSU upset Lander University  79-77 in overtime in Saturday's first semifinal contest.

This will be the Patriots' third appearance in the championship game.  FMU won the 1998 title and lost the 2006 title game in double overtime.

Senior reserve guard Shana Franks led FMU with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half.  Senior forward Nicole Mealing added 12 points and senior guard Eboni Fields 10.  Junior point guard Robin Colbert tallied nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists, seven steals, and two blocked shots.

Dominique Huffin came off the GCSU bench to score 20 points, while 6-2 senior center Antoinette Reames registered 14 points and 17 rebounds.

Francis Marion suffered through one of its worse shooting halves of the season en route to trailing 30-22 at intermission.  The point total was a season low as the Patriots shot 6-of-23 (26.1%) over the opening 20 minutes, including 1-of-11 on three-point attempts.  FMU also missed half of its 18 free throw attempts.

However, over the final 20 minutes the Patriots heated up, shooting 50 percent from the field, including 5-of-8 three-point shots, and 70 percent from the foul line.

FMU opened the second stanza with a 22-6 run over a nine-minute span.  En route to a 48-39 lead, Francis Marion held GCSU to 3-of-17 shooting over a span of 12:14.  The Patriot lead would reach 13 points at 61-48 following a three-pointer by Franks with 3:53 left.  The Lady Bobcats did not go quietly as they rallied with a 13-4 run to trim the margin to 65-61 with 41 ticks left. 

Franks then made 1-of-2 free throws and GCSU missed its final two three-point attempts prior to the final horn sounding.

"We played hard in the first half, but not hard enough," said Fields.  "We turned it around in the second half and started knocking down shots."

"Over the past handful of games, the squad has really made a conscious effort to finish strong," said third-year FMU head coach Heather Macy.  "And along that vein, you can credit our depth and good bench play."

Since going to the bench in a reserve role midway through the season, Franks has scored in double digits six times.  She said, "I have been using that time on the bench in the first half to watch and learn.  That way when I enter the game, I know what the flow is like.  It has helped me a lot."

FMU junior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored seven points and moved past former Patriot greats LaRue Fields and Cherita Linton and into 20th place on the career scoring list with 1,163 points.

3-6-10 3:40 PM at Aiken, SC (Convocation Center)
#17 FRANCIS MARION 66, GEORGIA COLLEGE & ST 61
FRANCIS MARION (26-3)
Franks, Shana 5-10 3-4 15; Mealing, Nicole 4-9 2-2 12; Fields, Eboni 2-10
4-4 10; Colbert, Robin 3-7 3-6 9; Singleton-Bates, Sha 2-7 3-9 7; Tucker,
Precious 2-5 1-3 5; Bowens, Tiahana 2-3 0-0 4; Trice, Simone 1-1 0-0 2;
Downs, Danelle 1-2 0-0 2; Mann, Monica 0-0 0-0 0; Mealing, Courtney 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 22-55 16-28 66.
GEORGIA COLLEGE & ST (21-8)
Huffin, Dominique 8-13 1-2 20; Jordan, Chimere 7-19 1-1 17; Reames,
Antoinette 6-14 2-8 14; Law, Tammeshia 2-5 0-0 4; Baker, Jessica 1-2 0-0 2;
Montgomery, Deja 1-2 0-0 2; Clark, Candice 1-3 0-2 2; Dudish, Mandi 0-0 0-0
0; Bleach, Shaquana 0-0 0-0 0; Moore, Shandrea 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 4-13 61.
Halftime: GCSU 30 Francis Marion 22.
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-19 (Mealing, Nicole 2-7; Fields, Eboni 2-8;
Franks, Shana 2-4), Georgia College & St 5-19 (Huffin, Dominique 3-6;
Jordan, Chimere 2-9; Baker, Jessica 0-1; Montgomery, Deja 0-1; Moore,
Shandrea 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Georgia College & St-Law,
Tammeshia. Rebounds--Francis Marion 33 (Colbert, Robin 8), Georgia College &
St 46 (Reames, Antoinette 17). Assists--Francis Marion 14 (Colbert, Robin
7), Georgia College & St 13 (Moore, Shandrea 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion
17, Georgia College & St 17. Technical fouls--None. A-1050