Box Score AIKEN, SC – Junior guard TeTe Flowers made the first of two free throws with one second remaining to give Francis Marion University a crucial 64-63 road win over division foe USC Aiken, Saturday evening (Feb. 20) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.
Francis Marion, winners of its last two games, ups its overall record to 20-7 and its conference mark to 11-7. With the win, FMU captured its 23rd 20-win season in the program's storied 43-year history and capped a remarkable turn-around as the Patriots lost 20 games only one year ago and were picked to finish 13th in the 2016 pre-season conference poll.
FMU will play host to UNC Pembroke for Senior Night on Wednesday (Feb. 24) at 5:30 p.m. in the final regular-season contest.
Four Patriots scored in double digits as senior guard Alaysia Watts, junior guard Victoria Dye, sophomore guard Khayani Chandler, and freshman forward Shaunice Fulmore each registered 11 points. Watts finished 5-for-11 from the floor, and tallied six rebounds and two blocks. Chandler shot 5-for-12 off of the bench for FMU.
Flowers pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, scored six points, and dished out five assists.
Guard Kassy Johannsen led USC Aiken (9-18, 4-14) with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while guard Mariah Durian scored 12 points and led the way with four assists.
With the score knotted at 63-63, USCA worked the clock down and Stephanie Ball attempted a shot with 10 seconds to play that rimmed out. The Patriots' sophomore Briana Burgins grabbed the board and FMU called a timeout. After the break, FMU took the ball and drove the lane where Flowers was fouled with one second left.
FMU led 18-14 at the end of the opening stanza. USCA took charge offensively in the second quarter as they outscored FMU 22-16 and the Pacers took a 36-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Burgins did her best to give the Patriots a lead in the third quarter. She drained all three of her shots from the floor as FMU outscored the Pacers 24-13 to take a 58-49 lead. Watts would follow suit, hitting her three shots from the floor and making one shot at the free-throw line.
The margin would shrink for the Patriots in the final quarter as USC Aiken outscored FMU 14-6, but the Pacers came up one point short.
FMU outrebounded the Pacers 35-33 en route to completing the season sweep of USCA. Francis Marion shot 47.4 percent from the floor, was 6-for-18 from behind the three-point arc, and only made 4-of-5 free throws. USC Aiken connected on 41 percent of its shots, was 7-of-18 from long range, and hit 6-of-8 free throws.
2-20-16 5:30 p.m. at Aiken, S.C. (Convocation Center)
FRANCIS MARION 64, USC AIKEN 63
FRANCIS MARION (20-7; 11-7)
Alaysia Watts 5-11 1-1 11; Khayani Chandler 5-12 0-0 11; Victoria Dye 4-8
0-0 11; Shaunice Fulmore 5-8 1-1 11; Camille Dash 3-5 1-1 8; TeTe Flowers
2-7 1-2 6; Briana Burgins 3-6 0-0 6; Kristin Tines 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57
4-5 64.
USC AIKEN (9-18; 4-14)
Kassy Johannsen 10-18 3-4 23; Mariah Durian 5-12 0-0 12; Jasmine Coach 3-5
0-0 8; Stephanie Ball 3-12 0-0 8; Aubrey Lukacsko 2-3 0-0 5; Alexis Ware 1-4
2-2 4; Tiffany Addison 1-5 0-0 2; Kate Duff 0-0 1-2 1; Carly Gilreath 0-2
0-0 0; Katelyn Grisillo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 6-8 63.
FMU_W......................... 18 16 24 6 - 64
USC Aiken..................... 14 22 13 14 - 63
3-point goals--FMU_W 6-18 (Victoria Dye 3-7; Camille Dash 1-2; Khayani
Chandler 1-6; TeTe Flowers 1-2; Alaysia Watts 0-1), USC Aiken 7-18 (Mariah
Durian 2-5; Jasmine Coach 2-3; Stephanie Ball 2-7; Aubrey Lukacsko 1-2;
Alexis Ware 0-1). Fouled out--FMU_W-None, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds--FMU_W 35
(TeTe Flowers 11), USC Aiken 33 (Kassy Johannsen 8). Assists--FMU_W 14 (TeTe
Flowers 5), USC Aiken 16 (Mariah Durian 4; Stephanie Ball 4). Total
fouls--FMU_W 13, USC Aiken 13. Technical fouls--None. A-568
