FLORENCE, SC — Francis Marion University senior forward Jasmine Williams-Hayes registered a career-high 16 points and junior forward Dee Gray posted her second double-double in three games, but a cold shooting spell over the final five minutes allowed Columbus State University to slip away with a 77-71 win over the Patriots, Thursday evening (Jan. 10) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

FMU (6-5, 1-4) will continue a three-game home stand when the Patriots entertain Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Williams-Hayes tallied her point total on 7-of-13 shooting and hauled down six rebounds.  Gray scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, while senior guard Kristen Dickerson added 14 points off the bench and junior center Kim Roach chipped in 10.

Junior 5-10 forward Chatil Bradford led Columbus State (6-6, 2-3) with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Taren White scored 17 points and Tandria Milton 13.  Junior forward Asha Alexander also recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

A jump shot in the paint by Roach gave FMU a 65-64 lead with 5:26 left in the contest.  However, the Patriots would misfire on nine of their final 11 field goal attempts.  A rare four-point play by Milton gave the Cougars the lead for good at 68-64 with 4:38 left on the clock.

After a layup by Roach brought the Patriots to within one at 68-67, Alexander and Bradford connected on inside buckets to push the margin to 72-67.  A pair of free throws by Roach cut the deficit to three (72-69) with 1:47 remaining, but White drained four straight free throws to ice the win.

FMU shot only 31.4 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes, while the Cougars made half of their 30 shots in the second half. 

The first half featured four times and three lead changes.  FMU led by as many as eight in the early going, the final time at 21-13 when DeAsia Toney found Williams-Hayes inside for a lay in with 12:58 left before halftime. 

Another inside hoop by Williams-Hayes gave the Patriots a 29-22 advantage with 7:15 left before intermission.  CSU countered with a 14-7 spurt that knotted the score at 36-36 before a three-point play by Gray gave Francis Marion a 40-38 halftime lead.

A layup by Briana Robinson pushed the FMU lead to 47-42 early in the second stanza, but Columbus State responded with six straight points to forge ahead.  The lead then see-sawed back and forth until the final five minutes.

1/10/13 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
COLUMBUS STATE UNIV. 77, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 71

COLUMBUS STATE UNIV. (6-6 , 2-3 PBC)
Chatil Bradford 10-13 1-2 21; Taren White 6-13 5-6 17; Tandria Milton 5-6
1-1 13; Asha Alexander 5-7 1-4 11; Shan Basley 2-6 2-2 7; Kayla Richards 2-5
0-0 5; Tae Smith 1-4 1-2 3; Candice Edmundson 0-2 0-0 0; Marina DeFoor 0-2
0-0 0; Kiersten Reid 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 31-62 11-17 77.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (6-5 , 1-4 PBC)
Jas. Williams-Hayes 7-13 2-3 16; Kristen Dickerson 6-11 2-2 14; Dee Gray
5-16 2-5 13; Kim Roach 3-6 4-4 10; Tiara Gause 2-10 0-0 4; Briana Robinson
1-5 1-1 3; DeAsia Toney 1-3 1-2 3; Erin Pinkett 1-3 0-0 3; Jalyn McDowell
1-1 1-2 3; Camille Dash 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-70 13-19 71.
Halftime: Francis Marion 40 Columbus State 38
3-point goals--Columbus State Univ. 4-16 (Tandria Milton 2-3; Kayla Richards
1-2; Shan Basley 1-3; Tae Smith 0-2; Candice Edmundson 0-1; Marina DeFoor
0-2; Kiersten Reid 0-3), Francis Marion University 2-11 (Erin Pinkett 1-2;
Dee Gray 1-2; Tiara Gause 0-1; Briana Robinson 0-2; DeAsia Toney 0-1;
Camille Dash 0-1; Kristen Dickerson 0-2). Fouled out--Columbus State
Univ.-None, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Columbus State Univ.
41 (Asha Alexander 10), Francis Marion University 39 (Dee Gray 13).
Assists--Columbus State Univ. 21 (Asha Alexander 6), Francis Marion
University 19 (Tiara Gause 5; Briana Robinson 5). Total fouls--Columbus
State Univ. 18, Francis Marion University 18. Technical fouls--None. A-726