FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Erin Pinkett came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, to help carry Francis Marion University to an 80-54 non-conference victory over Claflin University, Wednesday night (Nov. 14) in women's basketball action.

FMU improves to 2-0 this season and to 34-6 all-time in home openers.  The Lady Panthers, coached by former FMU assistant coach Tiffany Tucker, drop to 1-3.

Francis Marion will play host to unbeaten Newberry College (3-0) on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Pinkett notched her point total in only 14 minutes of action as head coach Kate Glusko continued her platoon substitution pattern.  FMU led 40-17 in bench scoring.

Patriot senior guard Kristen Dickerson added 12 points and junior forward Kim Roach added 10.  Junior Dee Gray tallied seven points and hauled down a team-high nine rebounds.  For the second straight game, sophomore point guard Briana Robinson narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and eight assists on Wednesday.

Senior guard Tylesha Brown led Claflin with 15 points and eight steals, while senior Talaya Robinson notched 10 points and eight rebounds.

FMU, which never trailed in the contest, held a slim 18-15 advantage with seven minutes left in the opening half.  Baskets by Roach, Tiara Gause, and Hattie Harris sparked 16-4 spurt to end the stanza that sent the Patriots to the locker room holding a 34-19 lead.

A 14-5 run to open the second half pushed the margin to 24 points at 48-24 with 15:42 left.  Roach scored a pair of buckets during that run, while Pinkett nailed one of her three-pointers.  The lead would not dip under 20 points for the remainder of the game, with the Patriots' largest margin coming at 34 points on three occasions.

Francis Marion shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field over the final 20 minutes and 46.5 percent for the game.  Led by Pinkett, the Patriots hit 6-of-10 shots from beyond the arc compared to 1-of-13 by the Lady Panthers.

11/14/12 6 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 80, CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY 54

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY (1-3)
Tylesha Brown 7-13 1-3 15; Talaya Robinson 2-14 5-6 10; Laquanda Williams
4-8 1-2 9; Kiara O'Neal 2-7 2-2 6; Alnessa Hickmon 2-6 0-0 4; Erika Dorsey
1-3 0-0 2; Tymeisha Hawes 1-1 0-0 2; Shakiema Ravenell 1-2 0-0 2; Jessica
Brown 1-5 0-0 2; Brittani Goodwin 1-5 0-2 2. Totals 22-64 9-15 54.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (2-0)
Erin Pinkett 5-8 0-0 15; Kristen Dickerson 6-9 0-0 12; Kim Roach 5-8 0-0 10;
Briana Robinson 4-8 1-2 9; Tiara Gause 4-10 0-0 8; Dee Gray 3-9 1-2 7; Jas.
Williams-Hayes 3-7 0-0 6; Simone Johnson 1-4 2-3 4; Camille Dash 0-3 4-4 4;
DeAsia Toney 1-1 0-1 3; Hattie Harris 1-3 0-1 2; Jalyn McDowell 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 33-71 8-13 80.
Halftime: Francis Marion 34 Claflin 19
3-point goals--Claflin University 1-13 (Talaya Robinson 1-5; Kiara O'Neal
0-1; Shakiema Ravenell 0-1; Brittani Goodwin 0-3; Tylesha Brown 0-3),
Francis Marion University 6-10 (Erin Pinkett 5-8; DeAsia Toney 1-1; Tiara
Gause 0-1). Fouled out--Claflin University-None, Francis Marion
University-None. Rebounds--Claflin University 38 (Kiara O'Neal 8; Talaya
Robinson 8), Francis Marion University 46 (Dee Gray 9). Assists--Claflin
University 9 (Brittani Goodwin 5), Francis Marion University 23 (Briana
Robinson 8). Total fouls--Claflin 15, Francis Marion 16. Technical fouls—None. A-823

Charges drawn: Williams-Hayes, Harris