FLORENCE, SC – Senior center Lauryn Taylor scored a career-high 34 points and grabbed an NCAA single-game record (for all divisions) 43 rebounds to lead Francis Marion University to an 85-62 win over North Greenville University, Thursday evening (Feb. 15) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A later review of game tape should one offensive rebound should not have been credited to Taylor, so her number changed from 44 to 43.

Francis Marion improves to 17-6 overall and 12-2 in conference play by winning its 16th straight home game.  The Patriots will travel up the interstate to play at UNC Pembroke on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the latest installment of the Battle of I-95.
 
Taylor grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and 30 defensive boards to set the new mark.  The previous Division II record was 36 by Christine DeSaine of West Virginia Tech in a 1995 contest against Ohio Valley, while the Division I mark is 40 and the Division III record is 38.
 
The Blythewood, S.C., native shattered the school record of 32 set by LaRue Fields in a 78-77 victory over the University of South Carolina on Jan. 28, 1976 – a mark that stood for 48 seasons.  Taylor grabbed 16 in the opening quarter, nine in the second period, eighth in the third, and 11 in the final quarter.
 
On the offensive end, the 5-11 Taylor canned a trio of three-pointers.  Taylor's father, the late Rodney Taylor, played basketball at Villanova University.
 
Junior guard Jada Richards followed Taylor's historic night with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, that included draining 5-of-9 three-point attempts.
 
Graduate student forward Geassy Germano led North Greenville (14-8, 8-7) with 17 points.
 
A three-pointer from the top of the key by Taylor opened the scoring as Francis Marion scored the game's first nine points and never trailed.  The margin quickly swelled to 17-4 after a three-pointer by senior point guard Aniyah Oliver near the midway point of the first quarter.  NGU trimmed the deficit to 22-15, but a trio of free throws by FMU gave the Patriots a 25-15 advantage as the horn sounded.
 
A lay-in by Taylor expanded the lead to 16 points, at 33-17, two minutes into the second period.  Again the Crusaders were able to narrow the margin to single digits – at 33-24 after free throws by Amareya Turner with 6:07 on the clock.  The Patriots gradually pulled away to a 45-30 halftime lead.
 
A fast-break three-pointer by Richards forced an NGU timeout early in the third quarter as the margin reached 20 points (52-32).    FMU junior forward Kiana Lee capped what would be a 14-4 run to open the second half with a jumper in the paint as the advantage ballooned to 25 (59-34).  The Patriots led 66-47 at the end of the third period.
 
A 10-2 spurt to open the final quarter got North Greenville to within 68-57 with 7:08 remaining, but FMU responded with a 15-1 run of its own to pull away and ice the victory.
 
Francis Marion connected on 36.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including 12-of-30 three-point shots, and was 15-of-23 at the foul line.  North Greenville was held to 31.7 percent shooting from the floor, while being a near-perfect 17-of-18 at the free throw stripe.
 
FMU outrebounded the Crusaders 61-32 and led 12-0 in second-chance points.
 
Lost in the singe-game stats, Taylor moved past former Patriot guard Christy Wright and into ninth place on the school's scoring list with 1,603 points; and sailed by former All-American forward Jeannette Alston to grab seventh position on the career rebounding list with 948.

 
 
02/15/24 5:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 85, NORTH GREENVILLE 62
NORTH GREENVILLE (14-8,8-7 Confere)
Geassy Germano 6-14 5-6 17; Mia Wysong 3-4 4-4 13; Angie Rodriguez 3-8 4-4
10; Amaijah Smith 4-13 0-0 10; Tabitha Littlefield 3-9 0-0 6; Amareya Turner
0-2 4-4 4; Austin Johnson 1-4 0-0 2; Greyson Boone 0-4 0-0 0; Abi Oates 0-5
0-0 0. Totals 20-63 17-18 62.
FRANCIS MARION (17-6,12-2 Confer)
Lauryn Taylor 11-27 9-12 34; Jada Richards 8-15 2-2 23; Trinity Adams 3-10
1-2 9; Aniyah Oliver 3-9 0-0 8; Kiana Lee 2-9 0-0 4; Trinity Delaney 1-2 1-3
3; Nevaeh Farmer 1-1 0-0 2; Sydney Turner 0-2 2-4 2; Lauren Brokken 0-0 0-0
0; MacKenzie Feagin 0-4 0-0 0; MiLeia Owens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-79 15-23 85.
North Greenville..............   15   15   17   15  -   62
Francis Marion................   25   20   21   19  -   85
3-point goals--North Greenville 5-16 (Mia Wysong 3-3; Amaijah Smith 2-3;
Austin Johnson 0-1; Greyson Boone 0-2; Abi Oates 0-4; Angie Rodriguez 0-1;
Geassy Germano 0-2), Francis Marion 12-30 (Jada Richards 5-9; Lauryn Taylor
3-6; Aniyah Oliver 2-5; Trinity Adams 2-6; MacKenzie Feagin 0-2; Kiana Lee
0-2). Fouled out--North Greenville-None, Francis Marion-None.
Rebounds--North Greenville 32 (Angie Rodriguez 7; Amaijah Smith 7), Francis
Marion 61 (Lauryn Taylor 43). Assists--North Greenville 13 (Amaijah Smith
4), Francis Marion 20 (Aniyah Oliver 8). Total fouls--North Greenville 21,
Francis Marion 16. Technical fouls--North Greenville-None, Francis
Marion-None. A-117