FLORENCE, SC - Junior forward Trinity Adams scored a game-high 23 points and senior guard Kennedi Simmons tallied 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists to help guide Francis Marion University to a 78-65 win over Wingate University, Saturday afternoon (Nov. 9) in the final game of the Conference Carolinas/South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Challenge.
 
Francis Marion (1-1) will continue its seven-game home stand to open the season on Wednesday when the Patriots entertain Columbus State University for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
 
Both Adams and Simmons played all 40 minutes of the contest.  Simmons drained 6-of-10 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 from behind the three-point arc, while Adams was 8-of-8 at the free throw stripe.
 
FMU senior forward Kiana Lee added 12 points – all in the second half – and 6-0 sophomore center Trinity Delaney chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Graduate student guard Aniyah Oliver – a former standout for the Patriots – led Wingate (0-2) with 14 points and seven assists.
 
A trio of free throws by Adams and a three-pointer by Simmons allowed FMU to open a 23-17 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.  The margin grew to 30-23 following a three-pointer by junior Danielle Jackson at the 7:16 mark of the second period.  However, Wingate scored the next nine points to assume a 32-30 lead. 
 
Forty-five seconds later, a three-pointer by sophomore guard MacKenzie Feagin regained the lead for FMU at 33-32 and the Patriots would never trail again.  The margin was three (40-37) at halftime.
 
The Bulldogs drew to with 47-46 in the third quarter, and later trailed by only two (54-52) with 3:29 on the clock.  Francis Marion closed the period on an 11-3 run to open a double-digit lead at 65-55.
 
Wingate pulled to within six at 65-59 early in the fourth, but the Patriots answered with a 12-2 spurt that produced a 77-61 lead and sealed the win.
 
Francis Marion connected on 50.0 percent of its field goal attempts, including nine made three-pointers, and was 17-of-20 at the charity stripe.  Wingate was held to 38.7 percent shooting from the floor, while hitting 13-of-15 free throws.