FLORENCE, SC – For the second consecutive game, sophomore swing player Trinity Adams set a new career-high, this time a 29-point effort, as Francis Marion University pulled away in the second half to claim a 97-76 victory over Barton College, Wednesday evening (Jan. 10) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
Francis Marion wins for the seventh time in its last eight contests and ups its record to 9-5 overall and 5-1 in conference.  The Patriots travel to the mountains of North Carolina this weekend to play at Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
This marked the third consecutive game that the Patriots have led wire-to-wire (120 consecutive minutes).
 
Adams tallied her points on 10-of-15 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, and was 7-of-8 at the foul line.  The Rock Hill native also grabbed six rebounds.
 
Senior post player Lauren Taylor added to her second-in-the-nation double-double total, now at 10, with 22 points and 14 rebounds. She also improved upon her nation-leading rebounding average, while canning 7-of-10 field goal attempts and going 7-of-9 at the free throw stripe.  The Blythewood, S.C., native passed former guard Gwen Canty for 15th position on the FMU career scoring list with 1,415 points, and moved by Lisa Waldrop for 13th place on the career rebounding list with 778.
 
Senior point guard Aniyah Oliver and junior forward Kiana Lee each chipped in 11 points, with Oliver adding five assists and Lee corralling 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
 
Senior forward Lauren Walker led Barton (4-10, 3-2) with 18 points (all coming on six three-pointers) and eight rebounds.
 
The Patriots scored the opening two buckets of the game and raced to an early 11-3 advantage.  The margin would stand at nine (21-12) at the end of the first quarter.
 
A three-pointer by Adams extended the lead to double digits at 37-27 with 3:26 left before halftime. A second three-pointer by Adams pushed the margin to 43-32.  However, Barton closed the stanza with an 8-5 spurt to draw within 48-40 at intermission.  Adams registered 19 of her points in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs trimmed the margin to five on four occasions early in the third period, the final time at 55-50 with 6:15 on the clock.  Six free throws (four by Taylor and two by freshman Trinity Delaney) and a three-pointer by Oliver accounted for a 9-0 run that pushed the advantage back to double figures (64-50), where it would remain for the rest of the contest.  FMU led 69-55 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
 
Francis Marion would gradually pull away, leading by as many as 26 on two occasions in the fourth quarter.  The Patriots nailed 9-of-13 field goal attempts and was 8-of-9 at the line over the final 10 minutes to eliminate any chance of a Barton rally.
 
Francis Marion shot 53.3 percent from the field, including 8-of-18 from three-point range, and was 25-of-29 at the free throw line.  Barton was held to 42.6 percent shooting, including 9-of-23 from behind the arc, and hit only 9-of-16 charity tosses.
 
FMU held a commanding 46-29 edge in rebounding,

       
 
01/10/24 5:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 97, BARTON 76
BARTON (4-10,3-2)
Lauren Walker 6-19 0-0 18; Lauren Mingo 6-11 4-8 16; Erial Owens 6-12 0-1
12; Jada Battle 3-4 3-5 9; Cierra Revelle 2-4 0-0 6; Skylar Quillet 1-5 2-2
5; Nyla Powell 2-5 0-0 4; Cyntiah Braden 1-4 0-0 2; Payton Sutton 1-2 0-0 2;
Jasmine White 1-1 0-0 2; Laiya Hardie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-68 9-16 76.
FRANCIS MARION (9-5,5-1)
Trinity Adams 10-15 7-8 21; Lauryn Taylor 7-10 7-9 22; Kiana Lee 3-9 4-4 11;
Aniyah Oliver 4-8 0-0 11; Trinity Delaney 2-5 5-6 9; Jada Richards 2-6 2-2
7; Sydney Turner 2-2 0-0 4; Nevaeh Farmer 2-2 0-0 4; Lauren Brokken 0-0 0-0
0; Sommer Joseph 0-0 0-0 0; MacKenzie Feagin 0-3 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 32-60 25-29 97.
Barton........................   12   28   15   21  -   76
Francis Marion............  21   27   21   28  -   97
3-point goals--Barton 9-23 (Lauren Walker 6-15; Cierra Revelle 2-3; Skylar
Quillet 1-3; Cyntiah Braden 0-1; Lauren Mingo 0-1), Francis Marion 8-18
(Aniyah Oliver 3-5; Trinity Adams 2-3; Lauryn Taylor 1-2; Jada Richards 1-3;
Kiana Lee 1-3; MacKenzie Feagin 0-2). Fouled out--Barton-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--Barton 29 (Lauren Walker 8), Francis Marion 46
(Lauryn Taylor 14). Assists--Barton 16 (Lauren Mingo 7), Francis Marion 16
(Kiana Lee 6). Total fouls--Barton 20, Francis Marion 12. Technical
fouls--None. A-517