FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore guard
Aniyah Oliver canned a floater in the lane with nine seconds left and Francis Marion University survived a last-second attempt by Emmanuel College to grab a 63-62 win over the Lions, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 19) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
Francis Marion improves to 14-10 overall and 13-9 in conference play and moves back into the coveted sixth-place spot in the standings. Positions five and six host first-round games in the conference tournament.
FMU will play at Belmont Abbey College on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., before hosting the University of Mount Olive in the regular-season finale on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Freshman guard
Kiana Lee led four Patriots in double figures with 14 points, while both Oliver and sophomore 6-0 center
Lauryn Taylor added 12 apiece. Junior guard
Scarlett Gilmore added 10, while junior center
Jasmine Stanley contributed seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds off the bench.
Junior forward Jazmin Allen led Emmanuel (9-15, 9-12) with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Francis Marion opened the game with a 9-0 run, but the Lions responded with a 16-2 spurt to go on top 16-11.
A three-pointer by FMU freshman
Jada Richards tied the game at 16-16 early in the second quarter, but Emmanuel built a 23-18 advantage with 7:24 left before halftime. The Patriots scored the game's next nine points en route to holding a 34-32 lead at intermission.
Emmanuel outscored the Patriots 19-11 in the third period and led 51-45 heading to the final quarter. The deficit would grow to nine at 58-49 with 5:26 left, but Francis Marion closed the contest with a 14-4 spurt. A three-pointer by Lee cut the margin to 60-59 at the 1:24 mark, and following a Lion turnover, a jumper by Gilmore put FMU up 61-60 with 46 ticks remaining.
The Lions regained the lead as Allen converted an inside hoop with 15 seconds left, but following a timeout, Taylor fed Oliver for the game-winning shot. The Patriots successfully defended a shot by Allen just before the final horn.
Francis Marion canned 31.7 percent of its field goal attempts, while hitting 19-of-24 free throws. The Lions shot 41.0 percent from the field and were 7-of-11 at the charity stripe.
Both teams grabbed 41 rebounds, but FMU held an 18-6 edge in second-chance points.
02/19/22 2:00 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 63, EMMANUEL (GA) 62
EMMANUEL (GA) (9-15,9-12 Confer)
Jazmin Allen 9-18 4-5 23; Jeanetta Elder 4-13 1-2 9; Lexi Sengkhammee 3-3
0-0 8; Sydney Wyatt 3-10 2-4 8; Allison Smith 3-11 0-0 8; Reyonna Hopkins
3-5 0-0 6; Makenzie Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0; Lindsay Pruitt 0-0 0-0 0; Addie
Penick 0-0 0-0 0; Macy Passmore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 7-11 62.
FRANCIS MARION (14-10,13-9 Confe)
Kiana Lee 4-9 5-5 14;
Aniyah Oliver 5-10 2-2 12;
Lauryn Taylor 4-13 4-6 12;
Scarlett Gilmore 2-11 5-6 10;
Jasmine Stanley 2-3 3-5 7;
Jada Richards 2-10
0-0 5;
Janiyah Hagood 1-1 0-0 3;
MiLeia Owens 0-1 0-0 0;
Jasmyne May 0-5 0-0
0. Totals 20-63 19-24 63.
Emmanuel (GA)................ 16 16 19 11 - 62
Francis Marion................ 13 21 11 18 - 63
3-point goals--Emmanuel (GA) 5-16 (Lexi Sengkhammee 2-2; Allison Smith 2-5;
Jazmin Allen 1-4; Macy Passmore 0-1; Sydney Wyatt 0-4), Francis Marion 4-23
(
Scarlett Gilmore 1-6;
Janiyah Hagood 1-1;
Kiana Lee 1-3;
Jada Richards 1-7;
Lauryn Taylor 0-3;
Aniyah Oliver 0-3). Fouled out--Emmanuel (GA)-None,
Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--Emmanuel (GA) 41 (Jazmin Allen 11), Francis
Marion 41 (
Jasmine Stanley 10). Assists--Emmanuel (GA) 17 (Sydney Wyatt 5),
Francis Marion 13 (
Aniyah Oliver 4). Total fouls--Emmanuel (GA) 14, Francis
Marion 9. Technical fouls--None. A-507
