FLORENCE, SC – The backcourt trio of Shannon Singleton-Bates, Courtney Mealing, and Robin Colbert combined for 58 points to lead Francis Marion University to a key 73-55 Peach Belt Conference win over Georgia College, Friday evening (Jan. 28) in women's basketball action.

The Patriots (12-5, 5-4) win their fourth straight PBC contest and gain their sixth consecutive victory over Georgia College (12-4, 4-4).  The Bobcats entered the game ranked third in the latest NCAA Southeast Region poll, while FMU was sixth.  Francis Marion will entertain the University of Montevallo on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Singleton-Bates scored a game-high 28 points to best GC's Chimere Jordan (25) in a battle of two of the top seven scorers in Division II.  Jordan entered the game ranked third nationally in scoring, while Singleton-Bates was seventh.  Singleton-Bates also pushed her career point total to 1,571 and passed former Patriot guard Christy Wright to move into seventh place on both the Patriot and PBC career scoring lists.

Mealing scored 18 points, while Colbert tallied 12 points, seven rebounds, and seven steals. Junior forward T.T. Belcher added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Behind Jordan's 25 points and seven rebounds, Bobcat sophomore guard Karisma Boykin added 12 points.

Francis Marion outrebounded Georgia College 41-28 and held a 19-4 advantage in second-chance points.  The Patriots also converted 24 Bobcat turnovers into 27 points, while holding the green-clad visitors to 38 percent shooting from the floor.

Belcher contributed two baskets to an 8-0 FMU run to open the game and the Patriots never trailed.  The Bobcats did draw to within 12-9, but cold-shooting did them in.  Georgia College hit only three of its first 20 field goal attempts and Francis Marion expanded its lead to 25-11.

Georgia College did respond with a 10-0 run to pull within 25-21, but Francis Marion scored the first half's last six points to lead 31-21 at intermission.

A steal and fast-break layup by Colbert gave Francis Marion a 41-27 lead with 16:10 remaining, but the Bobcats managed to get the deficit under double figures at 43-35 after a coast-to-coast dash and lay-in by Boykin with 13:57 left.  Mealing had a three-point play and a three-point field goal in an 11-0 FMU run that pushed the margin to 19 points at 54-35, and the Patriots were never threatened.

The Patriots' largest margin was 21 points at 59-38 after a Mealing stick-back with 8:51 on the clock.

1-28-11 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 73, GEORGIA COLLEGE 55

GEORGIA COLLEGE (12-4 , 4-4 PBC)
Jordan, Chimere 10-22 5-5 25; Boykin, Karisma 3-4 4-6 12; Baker, Jessica 2-7
0-0 6; Law, Tammeisha 2-4 0-2 4; Lewis, Krysta 1-5 2-2 4; Slocumb, Abby 1-2
0-0 2; Irwin, Amanda 0-0 2-2 2; Fox, Ashleigh 0-0 0-0 0; Huffin, Dominique
0-4 0-0 0; Parham, Kalia 0-1 0-0 0; Yanga, Huguette 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-50
13-17 55.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (12-5 , 5-4 PBC)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 10-22 5-7 28; Mealing, Courtney 5-15 6-7 18; Colbert,
Robin 4-7 4-4 12; Belcher, T.T. 4-6 0-0 8; Trice, Simone 1-3 1-3 3; Downs,
Danelle 1-2 0-0 2; Jones, Hannah 1-1 0-0 2; Dickerson, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0;
Christian, Brittany 0-3 0-2 0; Mann, Monica 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 16-23
73.
Halftime: Francis Marion 31 Georgia College  21
3-point goals--Georgia College 4-12 (Boykin, Karisma 2-2; Baker, Jessica
2-4; Lewis, Krysta 0-2; Huffin, Dominique 0-2; Jordan, Chimere 0-2), Francis
Marion University 5-17 (Singleton-Bates, Sha 3-8; Mealing, Courtney 2-5;
Christian, Brittany 0-3; Mann, Monica 0-1). Fouled out--Georgia
College-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Georgia College 28
(Jordan, Chimere 7), Francis Marion University 41 (Belcher, T.T. 10).
Assists--Georgia College 12 (Jordan, Chimere 4; Boykin, Karisma 4), Francis
Marion University 13 (Colbert, Robin 3). Total fouls--Georgia College 17,
Francis Marion University 16. Technical fouls--None. A-680