(release by FMU SID Intern Doug Page)

AUGUSTA, GA – The Francis Marion University Patriots used a hot shooting performance from three-point range on Monday night (Jan. 4) to knock off division foe Augusta University 86-69 in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.

The win improves the Patriots to 2-2 in the Peach Belt and 11-2 overall on the season. Francis Marion will head to St. Augustine, Fla., to face Flagler College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The next home game for Francis Marion will be Saturday against Armstrong State University at 1:30 p.m.

FMU senior forward Alaysia Watts tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead five Patriots who scored double figures. Watts finished the game 9-for-20 from the floor and 3-for-7 from behind the arc, while posting her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career.  Freshman sensation Shaunice Fulmore chipped in with 16 points, hitting eight field goals on 13 attempts. Junior Te Te Flowers added 15 points and six rebounds and senior Camille Dash dished out a team high six assists to go along with her season-high 14 points.

Senior 6-0 forward Kariel Hutt led the way for Augusta (10-3, 3-1) with 19 points and seven rebounds. Hutt finished 8-for-12 from the floor including 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. The Jaguars tried their best to stay in the game with some hot shooting from the free throw line as they connected on 17 of 21 attempts.

Francis Marion found itself ahead early on as the Patriots raced out to an 8-2 lead after Watts hit the first of her trio of triples. The Patriots would stretch the lead to 11 points with less than a minute to go in the first quarter. Fulmore connected on a beautiful fade-away jumper to make it 24-13. Augusta would cut the deficit to nine points after senior point guard Camille Gee hit a pair of shots at the free throw line, but Dash beat the buzzer with a three-point bucket to give the Patriots a 27-15 lead after one quarter.

The Patriots battled back and forth in the second quarter with the Jaguars, who used their time at the charity stripe wisely. Augusta closed an 18-point deficit with 2:52 remaining in the second quarter down to 14 thanks to a 4-0 run that would exhaust the time on the clock. FMU took a 44-30 lead into the locker room after getting their last three points of the quarter from sophomore guard Khayani Chandler.

Watts took charge in the third quarter scoring nine of the Patriots' 20 points. Augusta seemed to turn things around offensively midway through the quarter, closing the deficit to eight points. However with 21 seconds remaining in the quarter, Dash hit a running jump shot to stretch the FMU advantage to 64-52.

Chandler hit her third three-pointer of the game with 5:09 remaining in the fourth quarter to give the Patriots a 21-point margin at 79-58. FMU stayed aggressive with the lead, forcing the Jaguars into 18 turnovers on the night and turning them into 19 points offensively. Flowers connected on her only three of the night with 1:34 remaining in regulation to give the Patriots an 86-62 lead to seal the deal.

The 17-point final margin was the largest road conference win for the Patriots in five seasons.

Francis Marion connected on 47.9 percent of its field goal attempts (35-for-73), was 9-of-21 from three-point territory, and hit 7-of-8 free throws. Augusta made 40.0 percent of its shots (24-for-60), while going 4-of-13 from beyond the arc.