FLORENCE, SC – Sophomore forward Trinity Adams scored a game-high 19 points and senior Lauryn Taylor notched her 11th consecutive double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds to power Francis Marion University by UNC Pembroke 63-57, Wednesday evening (Jan. 24) in Conference Carolinas women's play.
 
Francis Marion, winner of six straight, improves to 12-5 overall and 7-1 in league play.  FMU will take to the road to play at Erskine College on Saturday at 2 p.m.  The next home contest will be Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. against Chowan University.
 
Adams connected on 6-of-12 shots, including a trio of three-pointers, and was 4-of-5 at the foul line.  She also grabbed five rebounds, handed out two assists, and came up with two steals.
 
Taylor, the nation's leading rebounder, added to her season average.  She also moved into sole possession of ninth place on the Patriot career rebounding list with 830, and moved past former Patriot Martha Williamson for 14th place on the FMU career scoring list with 1,470 points.
 
Junior forward Kiana Lee added 11 points and junior guard Jada Richards chipped in 10 points.  Senior point guard Aniyah Oliver scored six points, dished out seven assists, and collected her 100th career steal. She is now tied with Gwen Canty for sixth place on the school's career assists list with 414.
 
Kalaya Hall led UNCP (12-6, 7-2) with 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
An early bucket by Lillian Flantos gave the Braves a 4-2 lead and snapped a streak of 202 consecutive minutes (dating back six games) that Francis Marion had not trailed.  The opening quarter was tightly contested and ended with UNCP holding a 16-15 edge.
 
A 5-0 spurt by Francis Marion to close the second period gave the Patriots a 28-25 advantage as the teams retired to the locker rooms at halftime.
 
UNCP rallied to take a six-point margin at 38-32 near the midway point of the third quarter, but back-to-back three-pointers by Adams and Richards quickly knotted the score.  The Braves again went up, this time at 42-38, but a three-pointer by Adams, a jumper by Lee, and a three-point play by Adams constituted an 8-0 run that put Francis Marion back on top 46-42 as the period ended.
 
The Patriot would never trail in the final quarter.  After an opening three-pointer by the Braves trimmed the margin to 46-45, Taylor (4) and Oliver (6) combined for a 10-2 run that pushed the margin to 56-47 with 5:43 remaining.  The Braves would never get closer than five the remainder of the contest.
 
Francis Marion shot 36.4 percent from the field and made 8-of-14 free throws, while the Braves managed only 34.7 percent shooting from the floor and made 16-of-23 free throws – despite coming into the game leading NCAA Division II in free throw accuracy at 80.5 percent.
 
FMU forced 18 UNCP turnovers that were converted into 15 points, while the Patriots committed only 10 miscues that resulted in only five points.  Despite being outrebounded, the Patriots led in second-chance points 14-6. 

 
 
01/24/24 5:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 63, UNC PEMBROKE 57
UNC PEMBROKE (12-6,7-2)
Kalaya Hall 3-7 8-13 15; Courtney Smith 3-8 4-4 12; Zaria Clark 4-12 4-6 12;
Lillian Flantos 3-6 0-0 8; Aniah McManus 2-6 0-0 5; Kelci Adams 1-4 0-0 3;
Alcenia Purnell 1-2 0-0 2; Hannah Russell 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 16-23 57.
FRANCIS MARION (12-5,7-1)
Trinity Adams 6-12 4-5 19; Lauryn Taylor 6-13 3-6 15; Kiana Lee 5-15 1-1 11;
Jada Richards 4-10 0-0 10; Aniyah Oliver 2-10 0-2 6; Trinity Delaney 1-3 0-0
2; MiLeia Owens 0-2 0-0 0; Nevaeh Farmer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-66 8-14 63.
UNC Pembroke................  16    9   17   15  -   57
Francis Marion................   15   13   18   17  -   63
3-point goals--UNC Pembroke 7-22 (Courtney Smith 2-5; Lillian Flantos 2-3;
Kalaya Hall 1-5; Kelci Adams 1-4; Aniah McManus 1-2; Hannah Russell 0-2;
Alcenia Purnell 0-1), Francis Marion 7-23 (Trinity Adams 3-5; Aniyah Oliver
2-6; Jada Richards 2-5; MiLeia Owens 0-1; Nevaeh Farmer 0-1; Kiana Lee 0-4;
Lauryn Taylor 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Pembroke-None, Francis Marion-None.
Rebounds--UNC Pembroke 40 (Lillian Flantos 8), Francis Marion 37 (Lauryn
Taylor 14). Assists--UNC Pembroke 13 (Lillian Flantos 5), Francis Marion 19
(Aniyah Oliver 7). Total fouls--UNC Pembroke 16, Francis Marion 18.
Technical fouls--None. A-573