Box Score FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University freshman 6-0 center Lauryn Taylor poured in a career-high 23 points, but a late 12-0 run allowed Clayton State University to escape with a 77-75 win over the Patriots, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 6) in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (0-6, 0-5) will host USC Aiken on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in a make-up of a contest that was postponed earlier in the year.
 
Taylor, a product of Spring Valley High School, connected on 10-of-16 field goal attempts in her first home appearance as a Patriot.  She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and collected two steals.  Freshman guard Aniyah Oliver equaled her career-high of 13 points for the third time this season, while sophomore guard Scarlett Gilmore tallied 12 points and a team-high six assists.
 
Freshman guard Jadah Waite led Clayton State (7-2, 7-2) with 20 points, while junior forward Audrey McElhaney registered 18 points and eight rebounds.
 
Clayton State raced to an early 12-2 lead and led by as many as 13 points (19-6) before settling for a 21-15 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
That margin expanded to 26-15 early in the second period, but eight straight points by FMU trimmed the deficit to 26-23.  Francis Marion completed the comeback from the early deficit when Oliver knotted the score at 34-34 on two free throws late in the period.  The Lakers owned a 36-34 halftime lead when Waite made two free throws of her own with three seconds left.
 
FMU staked claim to its first lead when sophomore forward Jasmine Stanley opened the third-quarter scoring with a three-point play. A 7-0 run by the Patriots midway through the period snapped a 43-43 deadlock.  A pull-up three-pointer by Oliver game FMU a nine-point cushion (53-44) and the Patriots would hold a 59-51 advantage at the end of the quarter.  Francis Marion made 10-of-15 field goal attempts in the 10 minutes following halftime and outscored the Lakers 25-15.
 
Two free throws by senior guard Camryn Johnson stretched the FMU margin to 63-53 with 8:46 remaining.  The Lakers rallied to trim the lead to four with six consecutive points, but FMU again pushed the margin to nine at 74-65 following a lay-up by Taylor off a Gilmore assist at the 3:43 mark.
 
However, Clayton scored the next 12 points to lead 77-74 before FMU senior forward Briana White made a free throw with less than a second remaining to account for the final score.
 
Francis Marion shot a season-high 51.9 percent from the floor and was 19-of-22 at the free throw stripe.  The Lakers were held to only 35.0 percent shooting from the floor, but they nailed 31-of-37 free throw attempts.

 
 
02/06/21 3:00 pm at Florence, SC
CLAYTON ST. 77, FRANCIS MARION 75
CLAYTON ST. (7-2,7-2 Peach Be)
Jadah Waite 6-11 7-8 20; Audrey McElhaney 5-14 8-8 18; Timi'a Swanson 3-10
9-12 17; Kerry Watson 1-6 3-5 5; Jada Francois Lubin 2-3 0-0 5; Kevanika
Brown 2-7 0-0 4; Jonnise Poole 1-6 2-2 4; Jessica Maye 1-1 2-2 4; Grace
Kabundi 0-1 0-0 0; Praise Russell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-60 31-37 77.
FRANCIS MARION (0-6,0-5 Peach Be)
Lauryn Taylor 10-16 2-3 23; Aniyah Oliver 5-13 2-2 13; Scarlett Gilmore 3-8
6-6 12; Taylor Simmons 4-6 0-0 8; Jasmine Stanley 3-5 1-1 7; Briana White
2-2 3-4 7; Camryn Johnson 0-0 5-6 5; Abigail Bullock 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-52
19-22 75.
Clayton St....................      21   15   15   26  -   77
Francis Marion................   15   19   25   16  -   75
3-point goals--Clayton St. 4-10 (Timi'a Swanson 2-2; Jada Francois Lubin
1-1; Jadah Waite 1-3; Kevanika Brown 0-1; Jonnise Poole 0-2; Praise Russell
0-1), Francis Marion 2-10 (Lauryn Taylor 1-2; Aniyah Oliver 1-5; Abigail
Bullock 0-1; Scarlett Gilmore 0-2). Fouled out--Clayton St.-Jada Francois
Lubin, Francis Marion-Taylor Simmons. Rebounds--Clayton St. 35 (Audrey
McElhaney 8), Francis Marion 28 (Lauryn Taylor 9). Assists--Clayton St. 7
(Jadah Waite 3), Francis Marion 15 (Scarlett Gilmore 6). Total
fouls--Clayton St. 24, FMU 29. Technical fouls--FMU-Abigail Bullock. A-86