FLORENCE, SC – Junior forward Lauryn Taylor captured a career-high in points with 32 giving Francis Marion University a 97-65 victory over Lees-McRae College on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 28) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (13-6, 11-2) has now won 11 straight contests, equaling the sixth-longest streak in program history, and currently remains third in the conference – a half-game out of second place. FMU hits the road for a three-game conference road trip starting with Chowan University on Wednesday (Feb. 1) at 5 p.m.
 
Taylor shot 12-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe. The Blythewood, S.C., native stands four points shy of becoming the 30th Patriot to reach 1,000 career points.
 
FMU sophomore guard Kiana Lee netted 21 points and hauled in nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Jada Richards posted a career-high equaling 16 points with four steals. Junior guard Aniyah Oliver scored eight points, while dishing out a game-high six assists.
 
Francis Marion scored a season-high 97 points, its highest total since the 2014-15 season – a span of 221 games. The Patriots shot a season-high 64.3 percent from the floor, including 5-of-13 from behind the three-point arc, and were 20-of-30 at the charity stripe.
 
Lees-McRae shot 38.6 percent from the floor, while hitting 10-of-25 from behind the three-point arc, and was 11-of-14 at the charity stripe.
 
The Patriots held a commanding 56-16 advantage in points in the paint while securing 31 points off 22 Bobcat turnovers.
 
Freshmen guard Sandra Mason scored 28 points, including 6-of-11 from three-point land, while senior guard Jala Holloman recorded 10 points for Lees-McRae (1-17, 0-13).
 
In the first quarter, FMU's Oliver netted a fast-break layup off a turnover to give the Patriots a seven-point lead at 9-2. At the 6:16 mark, the Bobcats knocked the Patriot lead down to three at 10-7. A Lee floater from outside the paint gave FMU a 12-point lead at 21-9 with 2:09 remaining in the first quarter as the Patriots ended the quarter on a 13-4 run to go up 24-12. The Bobcats never led in the contest.
 
A fast-break layup by Lee gave FMU its largest lead at that point (16) at 30-14 with 8:03 remaining in the half. A Holloman layup and two buckets from Mason cut the Patriot lead down to 11 before a 12-3 FMU run secured a 20-point lead at 43-23 at the 3:21 mark of the second quarter.
 
Francis Marion's Richards was fouled on a three-point attempt and nailed two shots at the charity stripe to give the Patriots a 20-point lead again at 47-27 with 14 seconds left, but LMC freshmen forward Logan Dutka swiped the 20-point lead away by nailing a three-pointer buzzer-beater which cut the lead to 47-30 going into the locker room. Taylor, Richards, and Lee all reached double-digit points in the first half.
 
The Bobcats would yet again cut the lead to 16 after a three-pointer by Mason at 49-33. Shortly after at 59-40, an 8-0 run by FMU gave the Patriots their largest lead at the time of 27 (67-40) with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Bobcats managed to bring the Patriot lead down to 22 at 68-46 after LMC's Mason hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer heading into the fourth quarter.
 
In the first few possessions, Lees-McRae would cut the lead to 19 on two occasions at 74-55 and 76-57. Shortly after the 5-minute media timeout, Francis Marion ignited its best scoring run of the game with an 11-0 run to make the score 93-59 at 1:27. The Patriots' largest lead came after a Taylor layup made the score 97-62 with six seconds left.

 
 
01/28/23 2:00 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 97, LEES-MCRAE 65
LEES-MCRAE (1-17,0-13 Confer)
Sandra Mason 10-19 2-2 28; Jala Holloman 3-12 4-4 10; Aurora Roberts 2-5 2-4
6; Mya Lewis 2-3 0-0 6; Dianna Spence 1-3 3-4 5; Logan Dutka 2-3 0-0 5;
Jasonnia Burleson 1-3 0-0 3; Olivia King 1-3 0-0 2; Thailand Smith 0-1 0-0
0; Stephanie Kucy 0-2 0-0 0; McKenna Kersat 0-0 0-0 0; Arriana Lizarraga 0-2
0-0 0; Rachel Leath 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 11-14 65.
FRANCIS MARION (13-6,11-2 Confer)
Lauryn Taylor 12-16 6-9 32; Kiana Lee 9-13 2-2 21; Jada Richards 5-8 5-6 16;
Trinity Adams 3-3 2-4 9; Aniyah Oliver 3-6 2-4 8; Jasmine Stanley 3-6 0-1 6;
Janiyah Hagood 1-2 1-2 3; Alexis Sexton 0-2 2-2 2; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 36-56 20-30 97.
Lees-McRae...................   12   18   16   19  -   65
Francis Marion................   24   23   21   29  -   97
3-point goals--Lees-McRae 10-25 (Sandra Mason 6-11; Mya Lewis 2-2; Jasonnia
Burleson 1-2; Logan Dutka 1-1; Rachel Leath 0-1; Dianna Spence 0-2; Aurora
Roberts 0-1; Jala Holloman 0-5), Francis Marion 5-13 (Lauryn Taylor 2-3;
Trinity Adams 1-1; Jada Richards 1-4; Kiana Lee 1-1; Alexis Sexton 0-2;
Janiyah Hagood 0-1; Aniyah Oliver 0-1). Fouled out--Lees-McRae-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--Lees-McRae 29 (Logan Dutka 5; Aurora Roberts 5),
Francis Marion 31 (Kiana Lee 9). Assists--Lees-McRae 13 (Aurora Roberts 4),
Francis Marion 25 (Aniyah Oliver 6). Total fouls--Lees-McRae 21, Francis
Marion 10. Technical fouls--None. A-220