MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Francis Marion University bolted to a six-point halftime lead, but the Patriots succumbed to a 28-point third quarter by the University of Mount Olive as the Trojans rallied for a 73-65 Conference Carolinas win, Tuesday evening (Nov. 23) in women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (1-3, 0-2) will conclude their three-game conference road swing on Tuesday, Nov. 30, with a 5 p.m. contest at Barton College in Wilson, N.C.  The opening home game for the Patriot Women will be Friday, Dec. 3, at 5:30 p.m. as FMU celebrates Pearl Moore Night with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against King University (Tenn.).
 
Sophomore forward Lauryn Taylor led FMU with 17 points, while sophomore point guard Aniyah Oliver tallied 13 points, five rebounds, and five assists.  Junior guard Scarlett Gilmore added 10 points, while junior center Zaria Woods scored seven points and hauled down a game-high 17 rebounds.
 
Ayonna Cotten led Mount Olive (2-0, 1-0) with 17 points, including four three-pointers.
 
The Trojans led the entirety of the first quarter that ended with a 17-13 margin.  The advantage grew to eight points (23-15) early in the second period, before FMU began to rally.  The Patriots scored 12 of the final 14 points in the quarter to take a 33-27 edge at intermission.  Freshman Janiyah Hagood contributed a pair of three-pointers to that run. She finished the contest with nine points.
 
A lay-in by Taylor and a three-pointer by Gilmore stretched the lead to 38-27 a minute into the third period.  However, an 18-6 spurt by Mount Olive put the Trojans up 45-44.  Francis Marion's final lead was at 49-48 following Haygood's third three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the quarter.  UMO, which made 11-of-15 field goal attempts in the period, held a 55-50 advantage when the horn sounded.
 
The margin slowly grew over the final 10 minutes with six points (58-52) being as close as the Patriots would get.
 
Francis Marion connected on 34.4 percent of its field goal attempts and was 17-of-22 at the charity stripe.  UMO shot 43.5 percent from the field and was 6-of-9 on free throws.
 
 
11/23/21 5:00 pm at Mount Olive, NC
MOUNT OLIVE 73, FRANCIS MARION 65
FRANCIS MARION (1-3,0-2 Conferen)
Lauryn Taylor 6-13 5-5 17; Aniyah Oliver 5-8 1-1 13; Scarlett Gilmore 3-12
3-4 10; Janiyah Hagood 3-7 0-0 9; Zaria Woods 1-6 5-8 7; Kiana Lee 1-5 3-4
5; Jada Richards 2-8 0-0 4; Jasmine Stanley 0-0 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0
0; Jasmyne May 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-61 17-22 65.
MOUNT OLIVE (2-0,1-0 Conferen)
Ayonna Cotten 7-13 0-0 18; Sherry Johnson 6-11 0-1 13; Laila Harris 5-11 3-4
13; Ivanda Hudjakova 4-9 1-2 9; Azariah Fields 3-14 0-0 8; Makayla Kimble
2-4 2-2 6; Kaia Simpson 3-5 0-0 6; Haleigh Crews 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 6-9 73.
Francis Marion................ 13   20   17   15  -   65
Mount Olive...................   17   10   28   18  -   73
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-25 (Janiyah Hagood 3-4; Aniyah Oliver 2-5;
Scarlett Gilmore 1-6; Jada Richards 0-6; Kiana Lee 0-3; Lauryn Taylor 0-1),
Mount Olive 7-21 (Ayonna Cotten 4-7; Azariah Fields 2-6; Sherry Johnson 1-2;
Makayla Kimble 0-2; Haleigh Crews 0-2; Ivanda Hudjakova 0-2). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, Mount Olive-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 40
(Zaria Woods 17), Mount Olive 35 (Ivanda Hudjakova 8). Assists--Francis
Marion 11 (Zaria Woods 5; Aniyah Oliver 5), Mount Olive 15 (Ivanda Hudjakova
5). Total fouls--Francis Marion 13, Mount Olive 16. Technical fouls--None. A-59