MURFREESBORO, NC – Freshman guard Kiara Croskey paced Francis Marion University with a career-high 20 points in a 77-71 overtime loss to Chowan University on Wednesday (Jan. 29) evening in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
The Patriots (13-5, 8-3) will travel to Belmont, N.C., to play nationally ranked Belmont Abbey College on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 2 p.m.
 
Croskey also registered a perfect free throw percentage, shooting 6-of-6 from the foul line.
 
Senior guard Kennedi Simmons connected on 60% of shots from the floor, tallying 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks for the Patriots, while senior guard Jada Richards chipped in 14 points.
 
Also scoring within double-digits was senior forward Kiana Lee with 10 points. Lee had a team-high of three steals.
 
Yasmine Brown of Chowan led the Hawks (12-2, 9-2) with 24 points, connecting on 9-of-17 from the field.
 
The Patriots jumped to an early 8-2 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter before the Hawks went on a five-point run to trail 8-7 at the 4:13 mark. A pair of free throws at the charity stripe from Croskey boosted FMU to 10-7 advantage.
 
The Patriots led 12-11 at end of the first quarter.
 
The Hawks kicked off the second quarter with a 16-point spurt to lead Francis Marion 27-13. Despite Francis Marion trimming the 14-point lead back to single digits at 30-21, Chowan held the margin and entered halftime with a 36-28 advantage.
 
Simmons tallied nine of the 16 points scored by FMU in the second quarter.
 
By the 7:03 mark of the third quarter, the Hawks had expanded their lead to 17 points, outscoring the Patriots 9-2 in the first three minutes. Chowan continued on a run and held Francis Marion to five points in the period, before finishing the third quarter ahead 54-33.
 
An early six-point spurt from Francis Marion left the Patriots trailing 60-48 at the 6:40 mark. A foul that sent sophomore forward Trinity Delaney to the foul line for two made free throws reduced the lead back to single digits at 63-55.
 
While holding the Hawks at 63 points, the Patriots climbed back to within 63-60.  A mid-range hook shot from Richards brought the Patriots within one point (63-62) with only 1:47 left on the clock. Granted another 20 seconds on the shot clock after a turnover from Chowan and 28 seconds left in the game, Croskey buried a 3-pointer from the wing to overtake the Hawks 65-63.  A final bucket from the Hawks left the score knotted at 65-65 as the buzzer for regulation time sounded and forced the teams into overtime.
 
Both teams stayed close in the first minute of the overtime period before Chowan began to pull ahead at 71-67. The Patriots were able to make it a one-possession game after Croskey put away two free throws (71-69) before Chowan extended the lead to 77-71 at the buzzer.