FLORENCE, SC – Senior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored a game-high 20 points and Francis Marion University  converted 27 Flagler College turnovers into 27 points as the Patriots claimed a 74-50 win on Wednesday evening (Feb. 23) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion (17-8, 10-7) captures its second straight victory.  FMU is assured of finishing third in the East Division standings and traveling to either USC Aiken or Lander University on Wednesday night for the first round of the PBC Tournament.  But before that, Francis Marion will conclude its regular-season schedule with a Homecoming and Senior Day contest against Armstrong Atlantic State University, Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Singleton-Bates, the nation's 11th-ranked scorer, connected on 9-of-14 shots after missing last Saturday's game with an injury.  Junior forward T.T. Belcher scored a career-high 15 points, while senior point guard Robin Colbert tallied 10 points, seven steals, six assists, and five rebounds.

In the process, Colbert moved into second place on the FMU career steals list with 304, passing former Patriot guard Cherita Linton.  She now trails only Saturday's FMU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Kim Slawson, who totaled 462.  Colbert is now sixth in career assists (382) and 12th in career blocks (67).

Freshman forward Shelbi Lindsey led Flagler (6-19, 3-14) with 11 points.

Francis Marion scored the game's opening five points and never trailed.  The margin quickly grew to 13-3 and the Patriots gradually pulled away to a 36-16 halftime advantage.  FMU held the Saints to 6-of-25 shooting over the first 20 minutes, while themselves shooting 45.2 percent.

FMU scored the first eight points of the second stanza to go up 44-16 and the margin would not dip under 20 points for the remainder of the game.

While capitalizing on Flagler's miscues, the Patriots committed a season-low nine turnovers.  FMU also led 23-6 in fast-break points and 46-22 in points-in-the-paint.

2-23-11 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 74, FLAGLER COLLEGE 50

FLAGLER COLLEGE (6-19 , 3-14 PBC)
Lindsey, Shelbi 4-7 0-0 11; Knurek, Jen 2-4 5-5 9; Donelson, Adrienne 4-8
0-0 8; White, Danielle 2-6 1-1 5; Brown, Rachel 2-3 1-2 5; Bell, Ebonee 1-1
0-0 3; Taylor, Marie 1-1 1-2 3; Roper, Arianna 1-6 0-0 3; Owen, Charlsea
1-13 0-0 3; Roche, Shakia 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 8-10 50.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (17-8 , 10-7 PBC)
Singleton-Bates, Sha 9-14 0-0 20; Belcher, T.T. 6-10 3-5 15; Colbert, Robin
4-8 2-3 10; Mealing, Courtney 4-11 0-0 9; Trice, Simone 4-8 0-2 8; Downs,
Danelle 3-7 0-0 6; Mann, Monica 1-4 1-4 3; Jones, Hannah 1-1 0-0 2;
Williams-Hayes, Jasm 0-1 1-2 1; Bothof, Kendra 0-0 0-0 0; Dickerson, Kristen
0-0 0-0 0; Christian, Brittany 0-5 0-0 0; Imani, Ana 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-70
7-16 74.
Halftime: Francis Marion 36 Flagler 16
3-point goals--Flagler College 6-22 (Lindsey, Shelbi 3-4; Bell, Ebonee 1-1;
Owen, Charlsea 1-9; Roper, Arianna 1-4; Roche, Shakia 0-1; White, Danielle
0-3), Francis Marion University 3-12 (Singleton-Bates, Sha 2-3; Mealing,
Courtney 1-3; Mann, Monica 0-1; Christian, Brittany 0-4; Imani, Ana 0-1).
Fouled out--Flagler College-None, Francis Marion University-None.
Rebounds--Flagler College 38 (Knurek, Jen 9), Francis Marion University 40
(Trice, Simone 6). Assists--Flagler College 13 (Bell, Ebonee 4), Francis
Marion University 18 (Mann, Monica 7). Total fouls--Flagler College 11,
Francis Marion University 8. Technical fouls--None. A-689