MURFREESBORO, NC – Junior center Lauryn Taylor scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and in the process surpassed 1,000 career points as Francis Marion University secured a 62-60 victory over Chowan University, Wednesday night (Feb. 1) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion (14-6, 12-2), eighth in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Region rankings, extends its winning streak to 12, equaling the fifth-longest streak in program history.
 
FMU continues its 3-game road trip with a rematch against 20th-ranked Belmont Abbey College on Saturday (Feb. 4) at 2 p.m. The Crusaders, who are undefeated in the conference, won the first contest 71-64 and the Patriots have not lost since.
 
Taylor led four Patriots in double-figures while posting her sixth double-double of the season.  She becomes the 30th Patriot to reach the 1,000-point mark and now has 1,012.
 
FMU sophomore guard Jada Richards posted 15 points and three steals. Sophomore guard Kiana Lee netted 14 points and seven rebounds, while nailing all seven of her free throw attempts. Junior guard Aniyah Oliver scored 13 points and grabbed four steals. Oliver and Richards both average over one steal per game this season.
 
The Patriots shot only 29.0 percent from the floor, while going 6-of-19 from behind the three-point arc, but were money at the charity stripe hitting 20-of-30. The Hawks shot 30.7 percent from the floor, but were 4-of-17 from behind the three-point arc, hitting 10-of-15 free throws.
 
Senior guard Aniah Patterson scored 18 points, including 4-of-6 from three-point land, while graduate student forward Destiny Robinson recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds for Chowan (12-8, 8-6). Senior forward Keibra Hopkins also supplied a double-double in the effort with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
With the score knotted at 57-57 entering the final minute, Oliver knocked down two free throws with 32 seconds left, and following a Taylor block at the defensive, Oliver hit 1-of-2 at the stripe to push FMU ahead 60-57 with eight seconds remaining. The Hawks were unsuccessful on a three-pointer, giving Lee the chance to seal the game with two free throws, before Chowan's Patterson connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
The Patriots did not give the lead to the Hawks at all in the first quarter, as they opened up with an eight-point lead (13-5) after Lee knocked down a mid-range jumper and a free throw at the 4:54 mark. Chowan's Hopkins would cut the Patriot's lead to five at 14-9 before heading into the second quarter. Oliver and Richards each collected two steals apiece in the first quarter.
 
After back-and-forth buckets were shared, the Patriots pulled the lead back up to seven at 21-14 before the Hawks would claw the deficit to four points into the media timeout at 5:50. Their run did not stop out of the timeout knocking the Patriot's lead down to two points at 23-21 with 4:21 remaining. Taylor would score her 1,000th career point on the next possession while the Hawks would cut the lead to one after a free throw and a pull-up jumper at 2:46. The Patriots would secure a bucket from Taylor to go up three, but ultimately the Hawks would make it a one-point game again. Francis Marion led at halftime 29-26.
 
A Richards' three-pointer and two charity stripe makes from Oliver gave the Patriots their eight-point lead back at 34-26 in the third quarter. Chowan answered back with their best scoring run of 13-2 to take their first lead at 39-36. Senior forward Jasmine Stanley converted a layup combined with an Oliver three-pointer to knock the Patriots ahead by two at 41-39 with 3:51 remaining. The Hawks managed to steal the lead back at 43-41 until Taylor and Lee each knocked down two free throws to take the lead back for the remainder of the quarter leading 48-45 into the fourth.
 
The Patriots would not trail again although there would be three ties. A lay-up and three-pointer by Richards gave FMU a six-point lead at 53-47 until Chowan scored six straight to tie it at 53-53 with 5:01 remaining.
 
Richards converted another layup and the Hawks responded with a jump shot of their own to tie it at 55-55 with 4:11 remaining. The same would happen again as Lee knocked down two shots at the charity stripe, but Chowan's Patterson would even the score at 57-57 with 1:20 remaining in the quarter.
 
 
02/01/23 5:00 pm at Murfreesboro, NC
FRANCIS MARION 62, CHOWAN 60
FRANCIS MARION (14-6, 12-2)
Lauryn Taylor 5-16 6-8 16; Jada Richards 6-10 0-0 15; Kiana Lee 3-12 7-7 14;
Aniyah Oliver 2-10 7-8 13; Jasmine Stanley 2-6 0-0 4; Janiyah Hagood 0-2 0-0
0; Alexis Sexton 0-1 0-0 0; Trinity Adams 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 20-23 62.
CHOWAN (12-8, 8-6)
Aniah Patterson 7-14 0-0 18; Destiny Robinson 8-17 1-3 17; Keibra Hopkins
5-11 0-0 10; Yasmine Brown 1-5 4-6 6; Meara Carter 1-5 2-2 4; Imani Hickman
1-4 0-0 2; Demetria Bland 0-9 2-2 2; Jayah King-Johnson 0-3 1-2 1; Sydney
Roberts 0-1 0-0 0; Tyaysia Sharpe 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 23-75 10-15 60.
Francis Marion.............   14   15   19   14  -   62
Chowan........................    9   17   19   15  -   60
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-19 (Jada Richards 3-5; Aniyah Oliver 2-3;
Kiana Lee 1-4; Janiyah Hagood 0-2; Trinity Adams 0-2; Lauryn Taylor 0-3),
Chowan 4-17 (Aniah Patterson 4-6; Keibra Hopkins 0-3; Yasmine Brown 0-1;
Imani Hickman 0-1; Demetria Bland 0-4; Tyaysia Sharpe 0-2). Fouled
out--Francis Marion-None, Chowan-Tyaysia Sharpe. Rebounds--Francis Marion 41
(Lauryn Taylor 14), Chowan 59 (Destiny Robinson 11; Keibra Hopkins 11).
Assists--Francis Marion 13 (Aniyah Oliver 3; Jada Richards 3), Chowan 12
(Demetria Bland 6). Total fouls--Francis Marion 13, Chowan 20. Technical
fouls--None. A-119