Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, NC – Senior guard Cy'erra Mills scored a career-high 26 points, but Francis Marion University suffered through an eight-minute scoreless drought that the Patriots were unable to overcame and FMU dropped a 71-65 non-conference decision to Fayetteville State University, Tuesday night (Nov. 25) in women's basketball action.
Francis Marion (1-3) will play its home opener on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Shaw University. Tuesday's contest concluded a season-opening four-game road trip for the Patriots.
Mills connected on 7-of-14 field goal attempts, including 3-of-8 from three-point range, and was 9-of-10 at the foul line. Three freshmen – Khayani Chandler, Briana Burgins, and Stephanie Brown – followed Mills in the scoring column with nine points each. Chandler grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Shaquanza Manning paced four Fayetteville State (3-1) players in double figures with 16 points. Deja Middleton posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 14-13, FMU scored 16 of the game's next 20 points to claim a 29-18 advantage with 3:52 left in the opening half. That margin extended to 12 points at 35-23 following a layup by Burgins with 45 seconds remaining before halftime. That would be the Patriots' last points until the 12:10 mark of the second half.
FSU scored the final bucket of the first half to climb within 35-25 at intermission. The Lady Broncos then scored the first 18 points of the second stanza to take a 43-35 advantage.
Fayetteville State's largest lead came at 55-40 with 8:36 left. FMU rallied to within 65-60 after a three-pointer by Mills with 2:09 left. After the two teams traded buckets the margin remained five with 1:28 remaining, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.
Despite not making a three-pointer, FSU was aided by a large advantage at the free throw line. The Lady Broncos were 27-of-44 at the stripe, while Francis Marion was 17-of-19. The Patriots finished the night shooting 36.8 percent from the floor, while Fayetteville State shot 42.3 percent.
FMU came into the game ranked second in NCAA Division II in offensive rebounding, but the Patriots grabbed only 11 offensive boards and converted only 13 second-chance points.
11-25-14 5:30pm at Felton J. Capel Arena-Fayetteville, NC
FAYETTEVILLE ST. 71, FRANCIS MARION 65
FRANCIS MARION (1-3)
Cy'erra Mills 7-14 9-10 26; Briana Burgins 4-9 1-1 9; Stephanie Brown 2-6
5-6 9; Khayani Chandler 4-12 0-0 9; Danielle Pray 2-5 0-0 5; Emily Green 1-3
0-0 3; Camille Dash 1-4 0-0 2; De'Ana Turner 0-2 2-2 2; Courtney Wood 0-0
0-0 0; Alaysia Watts 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 17-19 65.
FAYETTEVILLE ST. (3-1)
MANNING,Shaquanza 5-14 6-8 16; SMITH,De'Aira 4-7 7-11 15; MIDDLETON,Deja 5-9
3-5 13; RICHARDSON,Doreen 4-8 3-6 11; SMITH,Emerald 1-2 7-12 9;
BATTLE,Shamiaya 1-2 1-2 3; EVANS,Bria 1-1 0-0 2; ROBINSON,Bria 1-4 0-0 2;
POWELL,Bri'nesha 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 27-44 71.
Halftime: Francis Marion 35 Fayetteville State 25
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-15 (Cy'erra Mills 3-8; Khayani Chandler 1-2;
Emily Green 1-2; Danielle Pray 1-2; Alaysia Watts 0-1), Fayetteville St. 0-6
(MANNING,Shaquanza 0-5; POWELL,Bri'nesha 0-1). Fouled out--Briana Burgins.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 35 (Khayani Chandler 8), Fayetteville
St. 42 (MIDDLETON,Deja 10). Assists--Francis Marion 11 (Camille Dash 4),
Fayetteville St. 12 (SMITH,De'Aira 3; RICHARDSON,Doreen 3). Total
fouls--Francis Marion 29, Fayetteville St. 15. Technical fouls--None. A-376
