FLORENCE, SC  – Junior 5-10 forward Hannah DeGraffinreed scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and registered four steals to help lead 18th-ranked USC Aiken to a come-from-behind 74-66 overtime victory at Francis Marion University, Wednesday evening (Jan. 12) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Senior Shannon Singleton-Bates led Francis Marion (8-5, 1-4) with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and in the process passed Martha Williamson to move into 11th place on the Patriots' career scoring list with 1,480 points. She is 20 shy of moving into the Top 10.

FMU sophomore guard Courtney Mealing added 14 points, while 5-11 junior forward T.T. Belcher recorded eight points and nine rebounds.

For the second time in eight days, the Patriots held a second-half double-digit lead over a nationally ranked opponent, but were again unable to secure the upset.

Three Pacers followed DeGraffinreed in double figures: Kayla Harris 21, Nakia Pinkney 14, and Deandra Schirmer 10. The victory is the 10th straight for USCA (15-2, 7-0).

Francis Marion led by as many as 11 points in the opening stanza, 25-14 following a jump shot by Singleton-Bates with 8:08 left.  The margin was cut to 31-25 at halftime.  The Patriots held USCA to 28.6 percent shooting (8-of-28) over the opening 20 minutes, while knocking down 54.2 percent of their own attempts.

DeGraffinreed sparked a 13-6 run by the Pacers to open the second stanza that put USCA up 38-37.  Francis Marion answered with nine straight points to retake the lead, 46-38 with 9:36 remaining.  The advantage would swell to 50-40 after a layup by Mealing at the 6:57 mark.

USCA used an 8-2 spurt to cut the margin to 52-48 with just under five minutes to play.  The Pacers cut the lead down to one on several occasions, but a layup by Singleton-Bates, off a feed from Robin Colbert, with 39 ticks left gave FMU a 60-57 lead.

On USCA's ensuing possession, a three-pointer by Harris rattled out, but DeGraffinreed scored on a stick-back and was fouled. Her free throw tied the contest at 60-60 with 19 seconds left.  Both teams traded turnovers in the final seconds before a desperation 35-footer by Belcher was off the mark at the final horn.

The score was tied at 62, 64, and 66 to open the overtime period.  A three-pointer by Harris gave the Pacers the lead for good at 69-66.  In fact, USCA scored the game's final eight points.

Francis Marion outshot USCA from the field 52.7 percent to 37.5 percent, but at the foul line the Patriots were only 6-of-16 (3-of-10 over the final 15 minutes of regulation), while the Pacers were 22-of-27. USCA also took advantage of 29 Francis Marion turnovers.

1-12-11 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
#18 USC AIKEN 74, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 66

#18 USC AIKEN (#18  15-2 , 7-0)
DeGraffinreed, Hann. 7-16 8-9 22; Harris, Kayla 7-15 5-5 21; Pinkney, Nakia
4-9 5-6 14; Schirmer, Deandra 4-8 2-3 10; Tarailo, Daniela 2-9 2-2 7;
Sundberg, Lindsay 0-4 0-0 0; Moody, Tiffani 0-0 0-2 0; Martin, Porsha 0-1
0-0 0; Bowen, Brittany 0-0 0-0 0; Antoine, Mia 0-1 0-0 0; Harris, Triahna
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 22-27 74.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (8-5 , 1-4 PBC)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 10-13 0-3 22; Mealing, Courtney 6-11 2-4 14; Belcher,
T.T. 4-8 0-1 8; Colbert, Robin 3-8 1-4 7; Downs, Danelle 2-4 2-2 6; Mann,
Monica 2-5 1-2 5; Dickerson, Kristen 1-2 0-0 2; Trice, Simone 1-3 0-0 2;
Jones, Hannah 0-1 0-0 0; Christian, Brittany 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 6-16
66.
Halftime: Francis Marion 31 USC Aiken 25
3-point goals--USC Aiken 4-19 (Harris, Kayla 2-6; Pinkney, Nakia 1-4;
Tarailo, Daniela 1-4; Sundberg, Lindsay 0-2; Antoine, Mia 0-1; Schirmer,
Deandra 0-1; DeGraffinreed, Hann. 0-1), Francis Marion University 2-7
(Singleton-Bates, Sha 2-3; Mealing, Courtney 0-2; Mann, Monica 0-1;
Dickerson, Kristen 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-Harris, Triahna, Francis
Marion University-Colbert, Robin. Rebounds--USC Aiken 36 (DeGraffinreed,
Hann. 9), Francis Marion University 36 (Belcher, T.T. 9). Assists--USC Aiken
18 (Harris, Triahna 6), Francis Marion University 16 (Mann, Monica 5). Total
fouls--USC Aiken 16, Francis Marion University 23. Technical fouls--None. A-833