HARTSVILLE, SC – Francis Marion University junior guard Jada Richards saw her three-pointer rim out as the horn sounded allowing 14th-ranked Wingate University to escape with a 71-69 win over the Patriots, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 11) in the Conference Carolinas/South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Challenge at Coker University.
 
Francis Marion (0-1) will return to the court on Sunday afternoon as they battle the home-standing Cobras at 2 p.m.  UNC Pembroke rallied to defeat Coker 74-67 in Saturday's first contest.
 
Returning Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Lauryn Taylor led FMU with 20 points and 12 rebounds – her 28th career double-double.  She moves up three positions to 24th on the school's career scoring list with 1,168 points and one position on the career rebounding chart to 21st with 616 boards.
 
Richards followed with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, while senior points guard Aniyah Oliver tallied 11 points and five assists, and junior forward Kiana Lee 10 points.
 
Hannah Clark paced the Bulldogs with 22 points.
 
The game's final sequence began with Wingate missing a pair of free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining.  FMU earned the rebound with 2.6 ticks on the clock and advanced the ball to the front court with a timeout.  However, Richards took the inbounds pass and her attempt from the extended right side was unsuccessful.
 
FMU shot 38.6 percent from the field, including 8-of-23 from three-point territory, and was 17-of-23 at the foul line.  Wingate connected on 43.3 percent of its shots, including 6-of-14 from deep, and was 13-of-18 at the charity stripe.
 
Wingate scored on a lay-up off the opening jump ball, but the Patriots responded with a 16-4 run to go up 16-6 – including three-pointers by Oliver and Taylor.  The Patriots would lead 21-15 at the end of the first quarter, in large part thanks to nine points from Taylor.
 
A free throw by Darlington native Sommer Joseph to start the second quarter upped the margin to 22-15, but Wingate answered with a 9-0 run to assume a 24-22 advantage. Buckets by sophomore Trinity Adams and Oliver, sandwiched around a three-pointer by Richards, constituted a 7-0 spurt that regained the lead at 29-24.  After the Bulldogs took a 33-31 margin, freshman forward Trinity Delaney hit two free throws and freshman guard MacKenzie Feagin, a Trinity Collegiate School product, drained a three-pointer as the Patriots went to the locker room up 38-35.
 
Wingate quickly erased the advantage with a 10-0 spurt to open the third quarter.  A floating jumper in the lane by freshman guard Sydney Turner pulled FMU to within 55-54 entering the fourth quarter.
 
A three-point play by Lee put Francis Marion ahead 57-55 early in the final period.  A lay-in by Emily Hege gave Wingate the lead for good at 62-60 with seven minutes remaining.  An inside hoop by Taylor and two free throws by Oliver pulled the Patriots to within 67-65 with 3:43 on the clock.
 
Trailing 71-65 entering the final two minutes, Taylor connected on a pair of free throws and a stick-back bucket to trim the margin to 71-69 with 1:25 left.  She missed on a potential go-ahead right corner three-point attempt with 32 seconds left setting the stage for the final plays.

 
 
11/11/23 4:00 pm at Hartsville, SC
#14 WINGATE 71, FRANCIS MARION 69
WINGATE (1-0)
Hannah Clark 7-14 4-4 22; Emily Hege 8-18 2-2 19; Laney Beale 2-5 3-3 7;
Trinity Breedlove 2-4 3-4 7; Lia Anderson 3-10 0-0 6; Jaia Wilson 2-4 0-0 5;
Bethel Ekperigha 1-2 1-2 3; Anna Baraldi 1-2 0-1 2; Shaylin Pollock 0-1 0-2
0; Lauren Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 13-18 71.
FRANCIS MARION (0-1)
Lauryn Taylor 7-15 4-6 20; Jada Richards 4-12 0-2 12; Aniyah Oliver 2-8 6-6
11; Kiana Lee 4-11 2-3 10; Trinity Adams 3-5 0-0 6; Trinity Delaney 0-1 4-4
4; MacKenzie Feagin 1-3 0-0 3; Sydney Turner 1-1 0-0 2; Sommer Joseph 0-0
1-2 1; Nevaeh Farmer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 17-23 69.
Wingate.......................   15   20   20   16  -   71
Francis Marion.............   21   17   16   15  -   69
3-point goals--Wingate 6-14 (Hannah Clark 4-8; Emily Hege 1-3; Jaia Wilson
1-2; Anna Baraldi 0-1), Francis Marion 8-23 (Jada Richards 4-7; Lauryn
Taylor 2-4; MacKenzie Feagin 1-3; Aniyah Oliver 1-3; Nevaeh Farmer 0-1;
Trinity Delaney 0-1; Trinity Adams 0-1; Kiana Lee 0-3). Fouled
out--Wingate-None, Francis Marion-Jada Richards. Rebounds--Wingate 29 (Lia
Anderson 9), Francis Marion 41 (Lauryn Taylor 12). Assists--Wingate 10
(Emily Hege 4), Francis Marion 10 (Aniyah Oliver 5). Total fouls--Wingate
19, Francis Marion 18. Technical fouls--None.  A-87