WILSON, NC – Senior guard Jada Richards scored a career-high 28 points and Francis Marion University outscored Barton College 10-0 in overtime to claim an 85-75 victory, Saturday afternoon (Dec. 14) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion, playing it's first road game of the season, improves to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play.  The Patriots will play at Converse University on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
 
In forcing overtime, FMU erased a 17-point third-quarter deficit.
 
Richards connected on 10-of-22 field goal attempts and grabbed seven rebounds.  Six of her points came in the extra session.
 
Senior guard Kennedi Simmons followed Richards with her second double-double as a Patriot: 16 points and 11 rebounds.  Freshman point guard Kiara Croskey registered 11 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds, while sophomore center Trinity Delaney posted her own double-double with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.  Junior forward Trinity Adams chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, and four blocked shots.
 
Leah Hampton paced Barton (6-5, 2-2) with 19 points, including five three-pointers, while Lauren Mingo recorded a triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
 
The Patriots spent the opening 20 minutes trying to knock off the cobwebs from a 12-day layoff due to exams.  FMU shot only 27.3 percent in the first half and missed all 10 of its three-point attempts.
 
Barton snapped an early 4-4 tie with a 9-0 spurt.  Back-to-back three-point plays by Richards and Croskey ignited a Patriot rally that saw FMU take an 18-17 advantage after a lay-in by senior forward Kiana Lee.  The first quarter would end in a 20-20 deadlock.
 
The Bulldogs used some hot shooting from behind the three-point arc (5-of-12) to outscore Francis Marion 21-8 in the second quarter enroute to a 41-28 halftime lead.
 
The margin grew to 54-37 after a three-pointer by Hampton with 4:33 left in the third quarter.  Francis Marion closed the period with an 8-0 run to trim the lead to 58-50.
 
Five points by the Bulldogs to open the fourth quarter widened the lead to 63-50, but the Patriots answered with a 19-6 run to knot the score at 69-69 after a three-pointer by Richards from the right elbow with 4:25 on the clock.  The run continued with four points by Simmons as FMU assumed a 73-69 advantage. 
 
Hampton tied the game at 75-75 on a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to force overtime.
 
Richards opened the extra session with a three-pointer and Adams converted a nice baseline lay-in and FMU never looked back.  The Patriots held Barton to 0-for-7 shooting over the 5-minute period.
 
Francis Marion finished the game shooting 36.6 percent, but managed only 11-of-23 at the foul line.  Barton shot 40.3 percent from the floor, including 14-of-35 from beyond the arc, and was 3-of-6 at the free throw stripe.
 
The Patriots committed only five turnovers and led 18-2 in points-off-turnovers.  FMU outrebounded the Bulldogs 60-50 and led 24-8 in second-chance points.