FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Briana Robinson scored six of her team-high 17 points in the final two minutes as Francis Marion University pulled away late to register its four straight victory, a 67-58 decision over Armstrong Atlantic State University, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

Francis Marion, which was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league according to the coaches' pre-season poll, ups its overall mark to 8-2 and its conference record to 3-1 and takes over sole possession of first place in the PBC's East Division standings.

The Patriot women will play a pair of conference road games this week: Friday night at Columbus State University and Sunday afternoon at Georgia Southwestern State University.  The next home game for FMU will be Jan. 18 against the University of Montevallo.

Robinson also registered five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Sophomore guard Camille Dash scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.  Juniors Alexia Bell and Cy'erra Mills each added seven points.

Senior guard Tyler Carlson paced the Pirates (6-4, 1-3) with 20 points, but was held to 7-of-20 shooting.  Freshman 6-0 forward Brigitta Barta notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.

A layup by Barta provided Armstrong with its only lead of the first half at 2-0.  FMU snapped a 6-6 deadlock with a 16-4 run that included seven points from Robinson.  The Patriot lead expanded to 16 points on two occasions, the final time at 30-14, before the Pirates trimmed the deficit in half and trailed 40-32 at halftime.

Armstrong slowly cut into the Patriot lead and took a 53-52 advantage on a fast-break layup by Bryonna Davis with 7:25 left in the game.  After a jumper by Dash, Davis made one of two free throws to tie the contest at 54-54 with six minutes remaining.  A jump shot from the paint by Bell ignited a 7-0 FMU spurt that gave the Patriots the lead for good.

Despite a second half that saw the Patriots make only 7-of-17 free throws, Robinson (4) and Pinkett (2) combined to drain six in a row in the final 41 seconds to seal the win.

Francis Marion finished the game shooting 35.2 percent from the field, while Armstrong made 32.8 percent of its attempts. FMU forced 25 Armstrong turnovers and held a 20-7 advantage in points-off-turnovers.

1-4-14 1:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 67, ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 58
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (6-4 , 1-3 PBC)
Tyler Carlson 7-20 4-5 20; Brigitta Barta 3-9 5-6 11; Mauri Wells 3-8 2-2 8;
Bryonna Davis 3-10 1-2 7; Dee Hayward 1-1 2-2 5; Amber Howell 1-4 1-2 3;
Stephenie Coney 0-4 2-2 2; Hanna Bognar 1-2 0-2 2; Amber Johnson 0-0 0-0 0;
Morgan Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 17-23 58.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (8-2 , 3-1 PBC)
Briana Robinson 6-16 5-5 17; Camille Dash 6-9 2-5 15; Alexia Bell 3-8 1-4 7;
Cy'erra Mills 3-11 0-0 7; Dee Gray 3-6 0-0 6; Kim Roach 2-9 2-6 6; Erin
Pinkett 1-6 2-2 5; Alaysia Watts 1-3 2-2 4; Chelsea Dukes 0-1 0-0 0; Lauren
Woods 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 14-24 67.
Halftime: Francis Marion 40 Armstrong Atlantic 32
3-point goals--Armstrong Atlantic 3-14 (Tyler Carlson 2-9; Dee Hayward 1-1;
Bryonna Davis 0-4), Francis Marion University 3-15 (Camille Dash 1-1;
Cy'erra Mills 1-4; Erin Pinkett 1-5; Alaysia Watts 0-1; Chelsea Dukes 0-1;
Lauren Woods 0-2; Briana Robinson 0-1). Fouled out--Armstrong
Atlantic-Brigitta Barta, Francis Marion University-None. Rebounds--Armstrong
Atlantic 49 (Hanna Bognar 13), Francis Marion University 40 (Kim Roach 7;
Alexia Bell 7; Camille Dash 7). Assists--Armstrong Atlantic 13 (Stephenie
Coney 5), Francis Marion University 17 (Cy'erra Mills 6). Total
fouls--Armstrong Atlantic 20, Francis Marion University 17. Technical
fouls--None. A-587