MORROW, GA – Top-seeded and second-ranked Clayton State University used a 16-4 run over the final seven minutes of the first half en route to a 79-54 win over eight-seeded Francis Marion University, Friday evening (March 11) in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional women's basketball tournament.

Clayton State, which improves to 30-1 on the season, will face the winner of fourth-seeded Georgia College and fifth-seeded Barton College in Saturday's second semifinal contest at 7:30 p.m.

Francis Marion, which was making its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and first under new coach Kate Glusko, ends the season at 18-10.

FMU was led by Shannon Singleton-Bates' game-high 20 points and six rebounds. Singleton-Bates connected on 9-of-20 shots and 2-of-3 free throws and ends her career with 1,743 points, seventh-best on the FMU all-time chart and the sixth-highest total in PBC history.

Patriot sophomore guard Courtney Mealing added 13 points, while sophomore Jasmine Williams-Hayes chipped in a career-high nine points off the bench in her most extensive action of the season.

The Lakers placed five players in double figures led by Teshymia Tillman's 15 points. Tillman connected on 7-of-10 floor shots. Latonda Bruce and Drameka Griggs added 12 points each, while Brittany Hall and Kayla Mobley had 10 apiece.

Clayton State forced the Patriots into 23 turnovers which were converted into 23 points.

The Lady Lakers kicked the game off with a 7-0 run, but back-to-back baskets by Singleton-Bates trimmed the margin to 9-6.  A lay-up by Williams-Hayes at the 7:03 mark kept FMU within eight points at 24-16.  However, Francis Marion missed six of its next eight shots and committed seven turnovers as Clayton State expanded its lead to 40-20 at intermission.

Clayton State pushed the lead to 28 points on two occasions early in the second half.

Francis Marion put together a brief rally and cut the deficit to 18 points, 59-41, following a three-pointer by Brittany Christian with 8:11 remaining.  Back-to-back buckets by Tillman pushed the margin back above 20 points.

Clayton State shot 61.5 percent in the second half and 53.4 percent for the game. The Lady Lakers hit 8-of-23 three-point attempts.

FMU connected on 23-of-56 field goal attempts (41.1%) and 6-of-12 free throws.  The Patriots, who lead the PBC in three-point field goal percentage, hit only 2-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc.

Following the game, Glusko commented, "Clayton State is very talented team.  They have a lot of depth and a lot of weapons.   They were an extremely tough opponent.  Overall, I am really proud of my players. They have faced a lot of adversity and they have made it through. They never quit and they never stopped playing hard."

Asked about her first season as a head coach, she added "I think it was a good year overall. Any time you make it to the NCAA Tournament and you are competing with teams from what I consider the top conference in the nation, I think you have achieved some level of success.

"It has been an adventure. We have had some great wins this year, but we also should have won some other games that we didn't.  I think overall we stayed the course and we had our eyes set on NCAA Tournament and we got here. That being said, we are not satisfied and I do not want my younger kids to be satisfied with just making the NCAA Tournament."

Singleton-Bates reflected on her career saying, "It has been a journey; a good one at that. I am proud of my teammates. My goal at FMU was to play the best basketball that I could, to leave it all out there, and to lay a foundation for the younger players."

Following the game, Mealing added, "We just have to learn from this. We will have a lot of new players in the future and I want to tell them about the NCAA experience and what to expect when they get here."