Box Score AIKEN, SC – Third-seeded Francis Marion University held an 11-point lead with seven minutes remaining in their Peach Belt Conference Tournament Quarterfinal game on Wednesday night at 12th-ranked and second-seeded USC Aiken, but the Lady Pacers closed the game with a 22-6 run and escaped with a 71-66 victory.
Francis Marion drops to 18-9 with its third hard-luck loss to the Lady Pacers (25-4). FMU lost a two-point decision in December and an overtime game in January.
The Patriots, who are ranked fifth in this week's NCAA Southeast Region poll, must now wait until Sunday night (9:30 p.m.) to see if they will receive an at-large invitation to the Division II National Tournament.
USCA advances to Saturday's PBC Tournament semifinals on the Lady Pacers' home floor.
Sophomore guard Courtney Mealing led FMU with 23 points, while senior reserve point guard Monica Mann added 14 points. Senior Shannon Singleton-Bates scored seven points – 13 below her season average as she played only 21 minutes due to first-half foul trouble.
Hannah DeGraffinreed paced USCA with 17 points, while Daniela Tarailo scored 15.
Francis Marion played perhaps its best half of the season over the opening 20 minutes and left holding a 45-32 advantage at intermission. FMU connected on 55 percent of its shots in the opening stanza and committed only six turnovers.
In the second half, USCA quickly got the deficit under double figures, but the Patriots still managed to hold onto the lead. After the Lady Pacers trimmed the margin to seven at 56-49, T.T. Belcher hit two free throws and Mealing scored on a lay-up to push the FMU lead back to 11 points at 60-49 with 7:02 left.
The Patriots would hit only one more field goal the remainder of the game as USCA put together its deciding 22-6 spurt.
Trailing 60-49, USCA started its rally by scoring 18 unanswered points. Two free throws by Nakia Pinkney tied the score at 60-60 with 4:24 left and 29 seconds later Pinkney put the Lady Pacers ahead on a stick-back bucket.
The 18-0 run put USCA up 67-60. FMU did manage to cut the margin to one possession at 69-66 following a three-pointer by Mealing with 34 second left, but Tarailo sealed the win with two free throws with 29 ticks left. Mealing finished the game 5-for-7 from three-point range.
FMU hit on 24.1 percent of its shots after halftime (7-of-29) and only 5-of-9 free throws, while committing 10 turnovers.
3-2-11 7 pm at Aiken, SC (Convocation Center)
Peach Belt Conference Tournament Quarterfinals
#12 USC AIKEN 71, FRANCIS MARION 66
FRANCIS MARION (18-9)
Mealing, Courtney 9-15 0-0 23; Mann, Monica 4-10 5-6 14; Singleton-Bates,
Sha 3-9 1-2 7; Trice, Simone 3-7 0-0 6; Colbert, Robin 2-7 2-2 6; Downs,
Danelle 2-3 1-2 5; Belcher, T.T. 1-7 2-5 4; Christian, Brittany 0-2 1-1 1;
Dickerson, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 12-18 66.
#12 USC AIKEN (25-4)
DeGraffinreed, Hann. 7-7 3-4 17; Tarailo, Daniela 4-12 4-6 15; Pinkney,
Nakia 4-6 4-4 13; Harris, Triahna 2-6 3-3 8; Harris, Kayla 2-5 3-4 7;
Schirmer, Deandra 1-3 4-5 6; Sundberg, Lindsay 1-4 0-0 3; Bowen, Brittany
1-3 0-0 2; Moody, Tiffani 0-3 0-0 0; Antoine, Mia 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-51
21-26 71.
Halftime: Francis Marion 45 USC Aiken 32
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-14 (Mealing, Courtney 5-7; Mann, Monica 1-3;
Christian, Brittany 0-2; Singleton-Bates, Sha 0-2), USC Aiken 6-15 (Tarailo,
Daniela 3-7; Harris, Triahna 1-2; Sundberg, Lindsay 1-4; Pinkney, Nakia
1-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds--Francis
Marion 36 (Downs, Danelle 9), USC Aiken 34 (Harris, Triahna 7).
Assists--Francis Marion 11 (Mann, Monica 2; Colbert, Robin 2;
Singleton-Bates, Sha 2; Belcher, T.T. 2; Mealing, Courtney 2), USC Aiken 15
(Harris, Triahna 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion 22, USC Aiken 16. Technical
fouls--None. A-938.
