BELMONT, NC – Junior guard Scarlett Gilmore scored 18 points to lead four Francis Marion University players in double figures, but the Patriots fell on the road to Belmont Abbey College 74-65, Tuesday evening (Feb. 22) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (14-11, 13-10) drops to seventh place in the conference standings.  The Patriots will host the University of Mount Olive in their regular-season finale on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.  FMU will need to win that game and have King University lose its final game in order to host a first-round tournament game.
 
Freshman Kiana Lee followed Gilmore with 14 points, while sophomore point guard Aniyah Oliver tallied 12 points and four assists, and sophomore center Lauryn Taylor registered her 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.  Junior forward Jasmine Stanley scored four points, but hauled down 12 rebounds.
 
Taylor Stelley paced the Crusaders (18-8, 16-6) with 20 points, while Brittany Autry added 19 points and eight rebounds.
 
Buckets by Oliver and Lee staked FMU to an early 4-0 advantage, but Belmont Abbey quickly responded with five straight points.  A jump shot by Taylor regained the lead for FMU at 6-5, but the Crusaders answered with another 5-0 run to take the lead for good.  Belmont Abbey led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second period, a three-pointer by Gilmore brought Francis Marion to within 18-16 with 6:33 on the clock.  Belmont Abbey would gradually pull away to a 27-18 margin and led 29-22 at halftime.
 
After trailing by as much as 12 in the third quarter, a fast-break lay-in by Lee trimmed the deficit to 43-37, and another lay-up, this one by senior Jasmyne May, kept the margin at six (48-42) as the period ended.
 
Belmont Abbey led by as many as 11 in the final quarter, but the Patriots rallied to with 60-56 following a three-point play by Lee with 4:15 left.  However, the Crusaders scored eight of the game's next nine points to expand the margin to an insurmountable 11 points with 2:40 remaining.
 
Francis Marion shot 31.9 percent from the floor, while Belmont Abbey connected on 41.0 percent of its field goal attempts.  The Patriots were 13-of-15 at the foul Line, while the Crusaders hit 17-of-19.
 
 
02/22/22 5:00 pm at Belmont, NC
BELMONT ABBEY 74, FRANCIS MARION 65
FRANCIS MARION (14-11,13-10 Conf)
Scarlett Gilmore 5-18 5-6 18; Kiana Lee 5-6 3-3 14; Aniyah Oliver 4-11 1-2
12; Lauryn Taylor 4-14 2-2 10; Jasmine Stanley 1-6 2-2 4; Jada Richards 1-5
0-0 3; Jasmyne May 1-2 0-0 2; Janiyah Hagood 1-5 0-0 2; Ke'Onna Bryant 0-2
0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-69 13-15 65.
BELMONT ABBEY (18-8,16-6 Confer)
Taylor Stelley 4-7 9-10 20; Brittany Autry 8-16 3-4 19; Peyton Nation 3-6
2-2 8; Alexis Schulz 3-10 0-0 8; Keyanna Spivey 3-5 1-1 7; Jo Snow 2-8 0-0
6; Abigail Crain 2-7 2-2 6; Kelli Thomas 0-2 0-0 0; Elfrieda Olsson 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 25-61 17-19 74.
Francis Marion................    9   13   20   23  -   65
Belmont Abbey.................   14   15   19   26  -   74
3-point goals--Francis Marion 8-25 (Aniyah Oliver 3-6; Scarlett Gilmore
3-10; Kiana Lee 1-2; Jada Richards 1-4; Janiyah Hagood 0-1; Lauryn Taylor
0-2), Belmont Abbey 7-19 (Taylor Stelley 3-5; Alexis Schulz 2-5; Jo Snow
2-5; Keyanna Spivey 0-1; Abigail Crain 0-2; Peyton Nation 0-1). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, Belmont Abbey-None. Rebounds--Francis Marion 47
(Lauryn Taylor 13), Belmont Abbey 37 (Peyton Nation 9). Assists--Francis
Marion 11 (Aniyah Oliver 4), Belmont Abbey 12 (Alexis Schulz 3; Jo Snow 3;
Taylor Stelley 3). Total fouls--Francis Marion 20, Belmont Abbey 12.
Technical fouls--None. A-196