BANNER ELK, NC – Freshman Jada Richards scored a career-high 15 points, including a key free throw with 16 seconds left, as Francis Marion University withstood a late Lees-McRae College rally to claim a 77-74 road win, Friday evening (Feb. 4) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
FMU (11-7, 10-6) will conclude its long weekend road trip with a 2 p.m. contest at King University in Bristol, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.  The next home game for the Patriots will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. against Chowan University.
 
In her key role off the bench, Richards canned 4-of-8 three-point attempts.  Sophomore center Lauryn Taylor scored 13 points, while sophomore point guard Aniyah Oliver registered 12 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.  Junior Zaria Woods added nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
Reserve guard Jessica Henderson led the Bobcats (4-12, 4-10) with 18 points and seven assists.
 
The two teams were separated by only one possession for the entirety of the first quarter, which ended with the Bobcats up 17-14.
 
Lees-McRae extended its advantage to 37-23 after a three-pointer by Jala Holloman with 2:54 left before halftime.  A pair of three-pointers by Richards and one by freshman Janiyah Hagood fueled a 13-2 FMU spurt to end the half and trim the deficit to 39-36.
 
Trailing 40-39 early in the third period, the Patriots rattled off 14 consecutive points.  Oliver capped the rally with a three-pointer that put FMU up 53-40 with 1:51 on the clock.  Francis Marion led 57-47 at the end of third after outscoring the Bobcats 21-8 over the 10-minute period.
 
The Bobcats pulled to with 57-51 only to see FMU score eight of the next nine points to surge to a 65-52 advantage following a three-pointer by Taylor.  Lees-McRae responded with a 19-7 spurt to draw with one at 72-71 with 1:38 remaining.
 
After the two teams traded buckets and the difference remained one point, Richards was fouled with 16 ticks left.  She made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 75-73.  On the ensuing possession, Henderson missed a potential game-winning three-pointer and Woods rebounded the miss just before the horn sounded.
 
In the ensuing struggle, Oliver was fouled with seven-tenths of a second left and three technicals were issued.  Oliver made two charity tosses to push the Patriot lead to 77-73.  Henderson made only one of two free throws at the Bobcat end to make the score 77-74.  Lees-McRae was awarded the ball and Holloman saw her game-tying three-pointer rimmed out at the final horn.
 
Francis Marion shot 45.8 percent from the floor, including 9-of-18 from behind the arc, and made 14-of-18 free throws.  Lees-McRae was held to 37.1 percent shooting, made only 6-of-22 from long range, and was 16-of-20 at the foul line.
 
The Patriots outrebounded the Bobcats 50-29.
 
02/04/22 5:00 pm at Banner Elk, NC
FRANCIS MARION 77, LEES-MCRAE 74
FRANCIS MARION (11-7,10-6 Confer)
Jada Richards 5-9 1-2 15; Lauryn Taylor 5-12 2-4 13; Aniyah Oliver 3-6 4-4
12; Zaria Woods 2-5 5-6 9; Jasmine Stanley 4-9 0-0 8; Scarlett Gilmore 2-8
2-2 7; Kiana Lee 3-5 0-0 6; Janiyah Hagood 2-2 0-0 5; Jasmyne May 1-3 0-0 2;
Ke'Onna Bryant 0-0 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 14-18 77.
LEES-MCRAE (4-12,4-10 Confer)
Jessica Henderson 5-13 6-8 18; MaKayla Smith 6-15 2-2 14; Jala Holloman 4-10
1-2 12; Malikah Meyers 5-11 0-0 11; Destiny Johnson 4-10 1-2 9; Aurora
Roberts 1-5 4-4 6; Thailand Smith 1-2 0-0 2; Stephanie Kucy 0-1 2-2 2;
Brianna Wright 0-3 0-0 0; Olivia King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-70 16-20 74.
Francis Marion................   14   22   21   20  -   77
Lees-McRae....................   17   22    8   27  -   74
3-point goals--Francis Marion 9-18 (Jada Richards 4-8; Aniyah Oliver 2-3;
Janiyah Hagood 1-1; Scarlett Gilmore 1-4; Lauryn Taylor 1-1; Kiana Lee 0-1),
Lees-McRae 6-22 (Jala Holloman 3-7; Jessica Henderson 2-7; Malikah Meyers
1-2; Aurora Roberts 0-1; Brianna Wright 0-1; Destiny Johnson 0-2; MaKayla
Smith 0-2). Fouled out--Francis Marion-None, Lees-McRae-MaKayla Smith.
Rebounds--Francis Marion 50 (Zaria Woods 10), Lees-McRae 29 (MaKayla Smith
6). Assists--Francis Marion 23 (Aniyah Oliver 8), Lees-McRae 18 (Jessica
Henderson 7). Total fouls--Francis Marion 20, Lees-McRae 23. Technical
fouls--Francis Marion-Zaria Woods 2, Lees-McRae-MaKayla Smith. A-201