MOUNT OLIVE, NC – Senior Lauryn Taylor and junior Kiana Lee scored 21 points apiece to help Francis Marion University to a 74-64 road win over the University of Mount Olive, Wednesday evening (Jan. 3) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion, winners of five of its last six games, improves to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in conference action.  FMU will stay on the road for a Saturday 2 p.m. tip-off at King University in Bristol, Tenn.  The Patriots will return home to host Barton College on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Taylor posted her eighth double-double of the year with 19 rebounds to go along with her point total.  Lee tallied her total on 6-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the three-point arc, and a 7-of-8 night at the free throw stripe.  She also tallied eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
 
Senior point guard Aniyah Oliver added 11 points for the Patriots.  She also dished out three assists to tie former Patriot Robin Colbert for seventh place on the FMU career assists list with 390.
 
Laila Anderson led a short-handed Mount Olive squad (3-7, 1-1) with a game-high 26 points.
 
Two free throws by sophomore Trinity Adams in the opening minute put Francis Marion up 2-0 and the Patriots would never trail.  Later in the first period leading 7-4, a pair of three-pointers by junior Jada Richards keyed a 12-0 run as the Patriots went up 19-4 en route to a 23-8 advantage at the end of the quarter.
 
A three-pointer by freshman guard MacKenzie Feagin to open the second quarter extended the lead to 26-8.  FMU would retire to the locker room at halftime holding a 45-25 advantage.
 
The margin was still 20 points at 53-33, but UMO closed the third quarter with a 14-4 spurt to close the gap to 57-47.
 
The Trojans further closed the gap to 60-51 with 7:32 remaining.  The margin fluctuated between nine and 11 points for the next six minutes until a stick-back bucket by Taylor gave the Patriots an insurmountable 70-59 advantage with 1:17 left on the clock.
 
Francis Marion connected on 41.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including 5-of-16 from three-point range, and was 19-of-23 at the foul line.  UMO was held to 37.1 percent shooting from the floor, including 5-of-18 from behind the arc, and the Trojans were 7-of-8 at the free throw line.
 
FMU held a commanding 46-30 advantage on the boards.
 
 
01/03/24 5:00 pm at Mount Olive, NC
FRANCIS MARION 74, MOUNT OLIVE 64
FRANCIS MARION (7-5,3-1)
Lauryn Taylor 7-16 7-8 21; Kiana Lee 6-11 7-8 21; Aniyah Oliver 4-10 3-5 11;
Jada Richards 3-10 0-0 8; Trinity Adams 1-3 2-2 4; Trinity Delaney 2-5 0-0
4; MacKenzie Feagin 1-2 0-0 3; Sydney Turner 1-2 0-0 2; MiLeia Owens 0-1 0-0
0; Nevaeh Farmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 19-23 74.
MOUNT OLIVE (3-7,1-1)
Laila Anderson 10-24 2-2 26; Kamania Griffin 3-11 2-2 9; Jada Priebe 4-7 1-2
9; Tiandria Tucker 4-7 0-0 8; Amber  Nealy 2-9 2-2 6; Asia Smith 3-8 0-0 6;
Kayla Jackson 0-1 0-0 0; Alondra Arroyo 0-0 0-0 0; Alexis Durham 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 26-70 7-8 64.
Francis Marion................   23   22   12   17  -   74
Mount Olive...................    8   17   22   17  -   64
3-point goals--Francis Marion 5-16 (Kiana Lee 2-2; Jada Richards 2-5;
MacKenzie Feagin 1-2; Aniyah Oliver 0-5; Lauryn Taylor 0-2), Mount Olive
5-18 (Laila Anderson 4-10; Kamania Griffin 1-3; Amber  Nealy 0-2; Kayla
Jackson 0-1; Alexis Durham 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--FMU 46
(Lauryn Taylor 19), UMO 30 (Asia Smith 8). Assists--FMU 16 (Jada
Richards 4), UMO 16 (Amber  Nealy 5). Total fouls--FMU 14, UMO 20.
Technical fouls--None. A-68