DUE WEST, SC – A last-second potential game-tying three-pointer missed its mark and Erskine College escaped with a 68-65 victory over Francis Marion University, Friday night (Nov. 11) in the Peach Belt Conference/Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Challenge.

The Patriots drop to 0-1 and will face North Greenville University on Saturday at 5 p.m. on the second day of the four-team event.  North Greenville fell to the University of North Georgia 73-46 in Friday's opening contest.

Sophomore Shaunice Fulmore paced the Patriots with 19 points, only two shy of her career high.  Fifteen of her markers came in the second half.  Senior point guard TeTe Flowers added 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Junior point guard Keanua Williams, playing her first game as a Patriot, chipped in nine points coming off the bench and junior forward Briana Burgins just missed a double-double with eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Kristin Giles Led the Flying Fleet (1-0) with 20 points, while Naomi Stuger registered 17 points and 11 rebounds.

FMU led by as many as seven in the opening period, 15-8 after a Burgins' bucket in the lane with 3:50 on the clock.  However, Erskine rallied to within 17-15 at the end of the period.  Erskine shot only 6-of-15 in the opening 10 minutes, but warmed to 56.1 percent shooting over the final three periods.

The Patriots upped their lead to 22-19 on a three-pointer by Khai Chandler with 6:27 left in the half.  The closely contested period featured five ties, including the halftime score of 32-32 after FMU junior Courtney Wood drained a 15-foot jumper just before the horn.

Erskine led by as many as six points in the third quarter, but Francis Marion closed to within 49-45 heading to the fourth.  The game's 16th and final tie came at 61-61 after a Kristin Tines' stick-back basket with 2:37 remaining.

Back-to-back hoops by the Flying Fleet opened a 65-61 advantage.  The Patriots cut the deficit to 66-65 on a basket by Flowers with 18 ticks left.  Stuger connected on a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining before Williams' three-pointer to force overtime was no good with three seconds left.

Francis Marion shot 42 percent from the field, including 2-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc, and was 5-of-7 at the foul line.  Erskine connected on 51.8 percent of its shots, including 3-of-11 from distance, and 7-of-15 free throw attempts.

FMU outrebounded the Flying Fleet 43-29 and held a 17-8 advantage in second-chance points.