FLORENCE, SC – Trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter, Francis Marion University outscored visiting Belmont Abbey College 31-14 over the remainder of the game to capture a 62-52 victory, Wednesday night (Feb. 28) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion ends its regular season 20-7 overall and 15-3 in league play – the program's second straight 20-win season and the 25th in its 51-year history.  The Patriots earned the second seed in the upcoming Conference Carolinas Tournament and will have a triple bye all the way to the semifinals on March 9 at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
 
Senior Lauryn Taylor led FMU with 16 points and 20 rebounds.  During the contest she became only the sixth player in team history to surpass 1,000 career rebounds.  She now has 1,008.
 
FMU senior point guard Aniyah Oliver scored 13 points and dished out four assists, while freshman guard MacKenzie Feagin came off the bench to drain a trio of second-half three-pointers.
 
Abigail Crain and Catherine Hendershott scored 14 apiece to pace Belmont Abbey (21-7, 15-3).
 
The Crusaders led the entirety of the first half, 15-11 at the end of the first period and 28-26 at halftime.   Belmont Abbey led by as many as nine in the second quarter, but FMU ended the half on an up-beat note as Oliver drained a long three-pointer as the halftime horn sounded.
 
Belmont Abbey extended the margin back to eight points on two occasions in the third quarter, and led 38-31 with 5:09 left in the period. A pair of three-pointers by Feagin sandwiched around a lay-in by Taylor, gave Francis Marion its first lead at 39-38.  Another three-pointer by Feagin with 14 ticks left gave the Patriots a 43-42 advantage heading to the final quarter.
 
The teams traded the lead until Patriot sophomore Trinity Adams knotted the score at 50-50 on a lay-up with 3:40 remaining.  Senior guard MiLeia Owens hit a 15-foot jumper to put Francis Marion ahead for good 52-50 with 3:09 on the clock.  Those hoops were part of a 10-0 FMU run that put the Patriots up 58-50. The final margin of 10 points was the largest for either squad.
 
Francis Marion shot 39.7 percent from the floor, while the Crusaders connected on 43.6 percentage.  FMU held a 39-29 rebounding advantage and led 19-8 in second-chance points.

 
 
02/28/24 5:30 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
FRANCIS MARION 62, BELMONT ABBEY 52
BELMONT ABBEY (21-7,15-3 Confer)
Abigail Crain 7-21 0-2 14; Catherine Hendershot 5-9 2-4 14; Peyton Nation
5-7 0-0 10; Riley James 4-11 0-0 8; Cate Schieber 2-5 0-0 4; Katie
Bischoping 1-1 0-0 2; Leigha Dennison 0-0 0-0 0; Janiah Shular 0-0 0-0 0;
Dearia Page 0-0 0-0 0; Madison Lusk 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 2-6 52.
FRANCIS MARION (20-7,15-3 Confer)
Lauryn Taylor 8-12 0-0 16; Aniyah Oliver 4-11 2-3 13; MacKenzie Feagin 3-5
0-0 9; Trinity Adams 3-12 2-4 8; Jada Richards 2-11 0-0 6; MiLeia Owens 1-1
2-2 4; Kiana Lee 1-4 1-4 4; Trinity Delaney 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-58 7-13 62.
Belmont Abbey.................   15   13   14   10  -   52
Francis Marion................   11   15   17   19  -   62
3-point goals--Belmont Abbey 2-7 (Catherine Hendershot 2-4; Cate Schieber
0-1; Madison Lusk 0-1; Abigail Crain 0-1), Francis Marion 9-27 (MacKenzie
Feagin 3-5; Aniyah Oliver 3-8; Jada Richards 2-8; Kiana Lee 1-3; Trinity
Adams 0-2; Lauryn Taylor 0-1). Fouled out--Belmont Abbey-Abigail Crain,
Francis Marion-None. Rebounds--Belmont Abbey 29 (Peyton Nation 8), Francis
Marion 39 (Lauryn Taylor 20). Assists--Belmont Abbey 15 (Abigail Crain 6),
Francis Marion 14 (Kiana Lee 4; Aniyah Oliver 4). Total fouls--Belmont Abbey
16, Francis Marion 10. Technical fouls--Belmont Abbey-None, Francis
Marion-None. A-532