FLORENCE, SC – Senior reserve point guard Monica Mann scored 13 points to lead five players in double figures as Francis Marion University pulled away in the second half to take a 76-59 win over the University of Montevallo, Sunday afternoon (Jan. 30) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

The Patriots (13-5, 6-4) have won a season-high five straight games and now occupy third place in the PBC's East Division.  Francis Marion will conclude its three-game home stand when its plays host to UNC Pembroke on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Mann also pulled down a career-high equaling six rebounds and handed out five assists in 21 minutes off the bench.  Junior forward Simone Trice scored 11 points, while junior Hannah Jones and seniors Shannon Singleton-Bates and Robin Colbert all added 10 points.

Junior 6-1 forward Shavonne Seymore, a native of Hartsville, scored 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting to pace Montevallo (7-11, 3-6), which was making its first-ever visit to the Smith University Center.  Seymore also hauled down eight rebounds and recorded three steals in a homecoming visit to the Pee Dee area.  Junior guard Tiffany McClure chipped in 12 points for the Falcons.

Montevallo started quickly by hitting six of its first nine shots and the Falcons led 15-9 at the 13-minute mark of the first half.  FMU answered with a 9-2 run that Trice capped with a three-point play. 

After a pair of free throws by Carrie Parrott regained the lead for Montevallo, Trice took a feed from Mann and converted a layup to give Francis Marion the lead for good at 20-19 with 9:31 left before halftime.  The Patriots stretched that margin to seven (32-25) at intermission as Singleton-Bates scored the final five points of the stanza.

A jump shot by Seymore brought the Falcons to within 36-31 early in the second half, but the Patriots responded with 10 consecutive points – four by Trice – to take a 46-31 advantage.  The margin would not dip under 13 points for the rest of the contest.

FMU's largest margin came at 65-44 after a free throw by Mann with 4:48 remaining.

Francis Marion was outrebounded in the opening half, but claimed a 24-12 margin on the boards over the final 20 minutes.  The Patriots also hit on 52 percent of their shots in the second half, while holding Montevallo to 42 percent.

For the game, FMU held the Falcons to 38 percent shooting and the Patriots took advantage of their trips to the foul line by hitting 23-of-30 attempts.  The FMU bench also outscored the Montevallo reserves 38-14 as no Patriot played more than 24 minutes.

1-30-11 1:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 76, UNIV. OF MONTEVALLO 59

UNIV. OF MONTEVALLO (7-11 , 3-6 PBC)
Seymore, Shavonne 9-17 3-4 21; McClure, Tiffany 6-14 0-3 12; Harris, Davia
3-8 2-2 8; Collins, Jessica 2-4 2-2 6; Young, Tiaren 1-4 2-4 4; Welch,
Taylor 1-5 0-0 3; Seigenthaler, Kris 1-2 0-0 2; Parrott, Carrie 0-1 2-2 2;
Strickland, Alex 0-5 1-2 1. Totals 23-60 12-19 59.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (13-5 , 6-4 PBC)
Mann, Monica 5-9 2-3 13; Trice, Simone 4-6 3-5 11; Colbert, Robin 3-9 4-4
10; Singleton-Bates, Sha 4-13 2-3 10; Jones, Hannah 4-6 2-2 10; Dickerson,
Kristen 4-5 1-1 9; Mealing, Courtney 2-11 2-2 6; Downs, Danelle 0-2 5-6 5;
Belcher, T.T. 0-2 1-2 1; Williams-Hayes, Jasm 0-0 1-2 1; Christian, Brittany
0-1 0-0 0; Imani, Ana 0-0 0-0 0; Bothof, Kendra 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-64
23-30 76.
Halftime: Francis Marion 32  Montevallo 25
3-point goals--Univ. of Montevallo 1-8 (Welch, Taylor 1-3; McClure, Tiffany
0-1; Collins, Jessica 0-1; Young, Tiaren 0-1; Strickland, Alex 0-2), Francis
Marion University 1-10 (Mann, Monica 1-2; Colbert, Robin 0-1;
Singleton-Bates, Sha 0-2; Mealing, Courtney 0-4; Christian, Brittany 0-1).
Fouled out--Univ. of Montevallo-Harris, Davia, Francis Marion
University-None. Rebounds--Univ. of Montevallo 34 (Seymore, Shavonne 8),
Francis Marion University 45 (Belcher, T.T. 8). Assists--Univ. of Montevallo
14 (Collins, Jessica 5), Francis Marion University 13 (Mann, Monica 5).
Total fouls--Univ. of Montevallo 19, Francis Marion University 18. Technical
fouls--None. A-198