FLORENCE, SC – Senior guard Kennedi Simmons scored on a layup as the final horn sounded to give Francis Marion University a miraculous 67-65 come-from-behind win over Young Harris College, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, and the Patriots have won 23 of their last 24 home contests.  FMU will host Fayetteville State University on Monday at 5:30 p.m. for the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Black-Out Game.  Fans are encouraged to wear black.
 
The winning bucket helped erase a 20-point deficit that saw the Patriots trail 56-36 with 8:44 left in the game.  The final sequence began with junior Trinity Adams missing a three-pointer from the top-of-the-key with four seconds remaining, but freshman point guard Kiara Croskey snared the rebound and before coming down passed to Simmons for the winning hoop.
 
FMU was led by senior guard Jada Richards' 20 points, as she came off the bench and canned 5-of-10 shots from behind the three-point arc.  Both Simmons and Croskey tallied 14 points, with  Croskey also pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and handing out four assists.
 
Junior forward Annalise Malone paced Young Harris (4-3, 1-1) with 37 points and eight rebounds. She connected on 11-of-15 field goal attempts, including a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc, and was 10-of-11 at the free throw line.
 
Aiding in the Patriot comeback, Francis Marion forced 27 turnovers that were converted into 27 points.  Despite being outrebounded, FMU led 11-2 in second-chance points, including the final bucket.
 
Young Harris led for nearly the entire opening period, but a fast-break pull-up three-pointer by Richards gave FMU a 13-11 advantage as the period ended.
 
What would eventually be a 12-0 run continued as the second quarter started and the Patriots led 20-11.  A three-pointer by senior Kiana Lee upped the margin to 23-13 with 6:38 left before halftime.  The Mountain Lions gradually closed the gap and trailed only 31-28 at intermission.
 
FMU connected on only 2-of-19 shots in the third period and were outscored 22-4 as Young Harris forged a 50-35 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Trailing 56-36, FMU gradually chipped away at the lead.  Two free throws by Adams cut the margin to 62-53 near the midway point of the period.  A floater in the paint by Croskey and a three-pointer by Richards trimmed the lead to 65-61 with 1:56 on the clock.
 
A blocked shot by Richards helped the Patriot defense force a shot clock violation and Croskey's two free throws brought the Patriots to within 65-63 with 1:01 left.  After a Mountain Lion miss, Simmons knotted the score at 65-65 on a reverse lay-in with 23 ticks remaining.
 
An offensive foul on Young Harris gave the ball back to Francis Marion with 10 seconds left setting the stage for the winning basket.  FMU scored the final 11 points of the game.
 
Francis Marion shot 34.8 percent from the floor and was 14-of-19 at the charity stripe, while the Mountain Lions shot 45.7 percent from the field and 15-of-16 at the free throw line.