YOUNG HARRIS, GA – Young Harris College used a 24-12 advantage in the third quarter to claim an 80-61 victory over Francis Marion University, Monday afternoon (Jan. 20) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
FMU (12-4, 7-2) will play at UNC Pembroke on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the latest installment of the Battle of I-95.  The Patriots will return home to entertain King University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Junior Trinity Adams led Francis Marion with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while freshman guard Deana Epps – who entered the game with one bucket all season – tallied 13 points off the bench.  Freshman point guard Kiara Croskey added 11 points and sophomore Sydney Turner a career-high nine.
 
Kamryn Bates paced Young Harris (10-6, 4-4) with 23 points.
 
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the Mountain Lions holding the largest margin at 12-8.   A pull-up jumper by Croskey knotted the score at 14-14, but Courtney Davis drained a three-pointer just before the horn to give Young Harris a 17-14 advantage.
 
Buckets by junior forward Danielle Jackson, Turner, and a three-pointer by Epps propelled Francis Marion to a 21-17 lead to open the second period.  Back-to-back three-pointers by Epps extended the Patriot margin to 29-23 with 5:12 left before halftime.  Young Harris closed the first half with a 12-2 spurt to take the lead for good and carry a 35-31 lead into the locker room at intermission.
 
A jumper by sophomore Trinity Delaney kept the margin at four points early in the third quarter, but the Mountain Lions went on a 14-3 run to push the advantage into double figures (51-36), where it would stay for the remainder of the game.
 
Francis Marion shot 36.2 percent from the floor and was 13-20 at the free throw line, while Young Harris connected on 44.8 percent of its field goal attempts, including 10-of-22 from behind the three-point arc, and was 18-of-24 at the charity stripe.