FLORENCE, SC – After opening the season with nine road contests due to renovations to the Smith University Center, Francis Marion University finally got a chance to play at home and responded with an 87-53 thumping of Converse University, Monday evening (Dec. 18) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
Winners of fourth straight, Francis Marion improves to 6-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference.  The Patriots will take a break for Christmas before returning to action on Dec. 30 with a road contest at NCAA Division I Charleston Southern University.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
 
Senior center Lauryn Taylor, the reigning conference Player of the Week, paced FMU with 20 points, 17 rebounds, and three assists.  It marked her seventh double-double of the season and 34th of her career.  She shot 5-of-8 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers, and was 8-of-10 at the foul line. 
 
Taylor passed former Patriot center Kathy Flaten for 17th place on the FMU career scoring list with 1,330 points.
 
FMU junior forward Kiana Lee scored 13 and handed out a team-high six assists, while sophomore guard Trinity Adams added 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting.  Sophomore 6-0 center Sommer Joseph, a product of Darlington High School, came off the bench to tally a career-high 10 points and grab six rebounds.
 
Senior 6-1 center Sydney Wilson led Converse (4-6, 2-2) with 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
The widest margin in the opening quarter was four points as the Valkyries maintained a 20-18 edge as the horn sounded.
 
A 15-3 run by the Patriots to open the second period put FMU on top for good.  Both Oliver and Lee contributed five points to the spurt, which was capped by a fast-break three-pointer by freshman and Trinity Collegiate School product MacKenzie Feagin.
 
That advantage expanded to 42-27 after a pull-up three-pointer by Taylor, before Converse claimed the final bucket of the half to trail 42-29 at intermission.
 
The Valkyries narrowed the margin to 43-33 early in the third quarter, before Francis Marion responded with a 13-2 run to open a 21-point margin at 56-35 midway through the period.  FMU outscored Converse 27-13 in the third quarter.  The Patriots' largest lead came at 85-50 following a driving lay-up by freshman center Trinity Delaney with 3:55 left in the contest.
 
Francis Marion connected on 50.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 6-of-16 from three-point territory, and was 15-of-20 at the free throw line.  The Patriots held Converse to 33.8 percent shooting and the Valkyries were 6-of-13 at the stripe.
 
FMU converted 14 Converse turnovers into 18 points and held a commanding 49-31 rebounding edge.  The Patriots defeated the Valkyries for the 20th time in 22 all-time meetings.

 
 
12/18/23 5:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 87, CONVERSE 53
CONVERSE (4-6,2-2 Conferen)
Sydney Wilson 6-8 0-0 12; Sierra Jones 4-11 2-4 10; Elisa Solé Sanchez 4-10
2-3 10; Jordan Brown 4-8 0-2 9; Zariyah Washington 2-11 0-0 6; Alisa
Davenport 1-7 2-2 4; Anna Cary 1-2 0-0 2; Daven West 0-0 0-0 0; Mary-Grace
Durham 0-0 0-0 0; Jennifer Pongnon 0-0 0-0 0; Amaia  Parkins 0-2 0-2 0;
Reagan Cameron 0-2 0-0 0; Mackenzi Salas 0-1 0-0 0; Jennifer Damoah 0-3 0-0
0. Totals 22-65 6-13 53.
FRANCIS MARION (6-4,2-1 Conferen)
Lauryn Taylor 5-8 8-10 20; Kiana Lee 4-9 4-6 13; Trinity Adams 6-9 0-0 12;
Sommer Joseph 5-8 0-0 10; Jada Richards 3-5 1-1 8; Trinity Delaney 3-8 2-2
8; MacKenzie Feagin 3-7 0-0 7; Aniyah Oliver 2-5 0-1 5; Sydney Turner 2-6
0-0 4; Lauren Brokken 0-0 0-0 0; Gabby Evans 0-0 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 33-65 15-20 87.
Converse......................   20    9   13   11  -   53
Francis Marion.............   18   24   27   18  -   87
3-point goals--Converse 3-18 (Zariyah Washington 2-5; Jordan Brown 1-2;
Elisa Solé Sanchez 0-1; Alisa  Davenport 0-2; Amaia  Parkins 0-1; Reagan
Cameron 0-2; Sierra Jones 0-5), Francis Marion 6-16 (Lauryn Taylor 2-4;
Kiana Lee 1-2; Aniyah Oliver 1-3; Jada Richards 1-2; MacKenzie Feagin 1-4;
Trinity Adams 0-1). Fouled out--Converse-None, Francis Marion-None.
Rebounds--Converse 31 (Sydney Wilson 8), Francis Marion 49 (Lauryn Taylor
17). Assists--Converse 14 (Jordan Brown 3), Francis Marion 23 (Kiana Lee 6).
Total fouls--Converse 15, Francis Marion 8. Technical fouls--None. A-497