FLORENCE, SC – Junior guard Jada Richards canned a trio of three-pointers to key a 24-point third quarter outburst as Francis Marion University went on to claim a 67-52 win over the University of Mount Olive, Wednesday evening (Feb. 7) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
Francis Marion, now 16-5 overall and 11-1 in league play, wins its 10th consecutive game to equal the 13th longest winning streak in program history.  The Patriots have also won 14 straight home contests.  Ranked fifth in the latest Southeast Region poll, FMU will play at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Ga., on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Sophomore Trinity Adams led FMU with 17 points and five rebounds, while Richards finished with a career-high equaling 16 points, including 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. 
 
FMU senior Lauryn Taylor, who leads Division II in both rebounding and double-doubles, added to her season totals with 14 points and 14 rebounds – her 16th double-double of the year.  The Blythewood, S.C., native also passed Mary Jackson to move into the Top 10 on the FMU career scoring list with 1,524.
 
Junior forward Kiana Lee added nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
 
Forward Reagan Hune led Mount Olive (6-14, 4-8) with 18 points.
 
Mount Olive scored the game opening five points, but Francis Marion answered with an 8-0 run.  The teams then traded the lead until Hune scored on a layup to give the Trojans a 13-12 advantage at the end of the first period.
 
The two squads were never separated by more than one possession during the entire second quarter.  Two free throws by Richards with two seconds left gave the Patriots a 26-24 halftime lead.
 
Mount Olive knotted the score at 29-29 early in the third period, but the Patriots ran off eight straight points, capped by a three-pointer by Richards to assume a 37-29 margin.  After a Trojan bucket at the other end, Richards drained another three-pointer to extend the lead to nine at 40-31.  The lead would grow to 14 at 50-36 after a three-pointer by Lee, before Hune tallied the final hoop of the quarter on a stick-back at the buzzer.  FMU made 9-of-16 shots in the third period and outscored the Trojans 24-14.
 
UMO's Kayla Jackson drained a three-pointer to open the final period and trim the deficit to 50-41, but Francis Marion responded with an 8-2 spurt and the lead would remain in double figures the rest of the way.  Adams tallied five points in the run.
 
Francis Marion connected on 36.9 percent of its field goal attempts, including 8-of-24 from deep, and was 11-of-13 at the foul line.  The Trojans hit 38.9 percent of their shots, but were only 5-of-6 at the free throw stripe.

 
 
02/07/24 5:30 pm at Florence, SC
FRANCIS MARION 67, MOUNT OLIVE 52
MOUNT OLIVE (6-14, 4-8)
Reagan Hune 7-12 2-2 18; Tiandria Tucker 5-7 2-2 12; Alexis Durham 3-7 0-0
7; Jada Priebe 2-5 0-0 4; Kayla Jackson 1-4 0-0 3; Dominique Pacheco 1-11
1-2 3; Anna Hendrix 1-4 0-0 3; Kamania Griffin 1-1 0-0 2; Alondra Arroyo 0-3
0-0 0; Maddison Mangalao 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 5-6 52.
FRANCIS MARION (16-5, 11-1)
Trinity Adams 8-17 0-0 17; Jada Richards 5-10 2-2 16; Lauryn Taylor 5-7 4-5
14; Kiana Lee 4-20 0-0 9; Trinity Delaney 0-1 4-4 4; MacKenzie Feagin 1-2
0-0 3; Aniyah Oliver 1-6 0-0 3; Nevaeh Farmer 0-2 1-2 1; MiLeia Owens 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 24-65 11-13 67.
Mount Olive...................   13   11   14   14  -   52
Francis Marion..............   12   14   24   17  -   67
3-point goals--Mount Olive 5-15 (Reagan Hune 2-2; Anna Hendrix 1-3; Alexis
Durham 1-4; Kayla Jackson 1-4; Dominique Pacheco 0-2), Francis Marion 8-24
(Jada Richards 4-7; MacKenzie Feagin 1-2; Kiana Lee 1-4; Trinity Adams 1-5;
Aniyah Oliver 1-5; Nevaeh Farmer 0-1). Fouled out--Mount Olive-None, Francis
Marion-None. Rebounds--Mount Olive 31 (Tiandria Tucker 8), Francis Marion 37
(Lauryn Taylor 14). Assists--Mount Olive 17 (Dominique Pacheco 5), Francis
Marion 17 (Kiana Lee 6). Total fouls--Mount Olive 22, Francis Marion 13.
Technical fouls--None. A-432