FLORENCE, SC – The inside duo of junior Zaria Woods and sophomore Lauryn Taylor combined for 41 points and 21 rebounds to power Francis Marion University to a 72-57 Conference Carolinas win over Lees-McRae College, Saturday afternoon (Dec. 4) in women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (3-4, 2-3) captures its second win in as many days, and will now break for final exams.  The Patriots will return to play with a pair of road games before Christmas, Dec. 15 at Chowan University and Dec. 18 at Southern Wesleyan University.
 
Taylor tallied 22 points and 11 rebounds, while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-10 at the foul line.  Woods registered 19 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists, while posting a nearly perfect shooting performance from the field (9-of-10).
 
Junior guard Scarlett Gilmore chipped in 14 points, while sophomore point guard Aniyah Oliver added six points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
 
Junior guard MaKayla Smith paced Lees-McRae (0-6, 0-4) with 16 points.
 
For the second night in a row, the Patriots never trailed.  A fast-break lay-in by Woods accounted for the game's opening hoop, and a 7-1 spurt to close the first quarter gave FMU a 17-7 advantage.  The Patriots stretched their lead to 19 points (36-17) as Taylor scored on an inside hoop with two seconds left before halftime.
 
Francis Marion led by as many as 21 on two occasions in the third quarter before settling for a 54-39 margin heading to the final period.  That would be as close as the Bobcats would get until a bucket in the final minute trimmed the margin to 13.
 
Francis Marion shot 44.1 percent from the floor and was 17-of-22 at the foul stripe, while the Bobcats were held to 35.2 percent field goal shooting and were 7-of-12 on free throws.
 
The Patriot dominated the boards, holding a 54-29 rebounding edge.

 
 
12/04/21 2:00 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 72, LEES-MCRAE 57
LEES-MCRAE (0-6,0-4 Conferen)
MaKayla Smith 7-11 2-3 16; Destiny Johnson 7-16 0-0 14; Malikah Meyers 6-11
0-0 12; Aurora Roberts 1-8 4-6 6; Jessica Henderson 2-10 0-0 4; Thailand
Smith 2-5 0-0 4; Brianna Wright 0-4 1-3 1; Morgan Gray 0-0 0-0 0; Arriana
Lizarraga 0-5 0-0 0; Olivia King 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 7-12 57.
FRANCIS MARION (3-4,2-3 Conferen)
Lauryn Taylor 7-14 7-10 22; Zaria Woods 9-10 1-1 19; Scarlett Gilmore 5-14
4-4 14; Aniyah Oliver 1-5 3-4 6; Jasmine Stanley 2-4 1-1 5; Kiana Lee 1-5
1-2 3; Jada Richards 1-3 0-0 3; Myesha Huggins 0-1 0-0 0; Janiyah Hagood 0-1
0-0 0; Ke'Onna Bryant 0-0 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0 0; Jasmyne May 0-2 0-0
0. Totals 26-59 17-22 72.
Halftime: Francis Marion 36 Lees-McRae 17
3-point goals--Lees-McRae 0-10 (MaKayla Smith 0-1; Destiny Johnson 0-1;
Aurora Roberts 0-3; Jessica Henderson 0-3; Brianna Wright 0-2), Francis
Marion 3-15 (Aniyah Oliver 1-3; Jada Richards 1-2; Lauryn Taylor 1-1; Kiana
Lee 0-3; Janiyah Hagood 0-1; Scarlett Gilmore 0-5). Fouled
out--Lees-McRae-None, Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--Lees-McRae 29 (Malikah
Meyers 8), Francis Marion 54 (Lauryn Taylor 11). Assists--Lees-McRae 8
(MaKayla Smith 2; Malikah Meyers 2), Francis Marion 18 (Aniyah Oliver 8).
Total fouls--Lees-McRae 17, Francis Marion 11. Technical
fouls—LMC Olivia King, FMU Zaria Woods. A-227