PEMBROKE, NC – Junior guard Uriah Jennings led four Patriots in double figures with 15 points, but Francis Marion University dropped its season opener 76-69 to eighth-ranked Coker University, Friday night (Nov. 14) in the Conference Carolinas/South Atlantic Conference Women's Basketball Challenge.
 
The two-day event will conclude on Saturday at UNC Pembroke as FMU faces Wingate University at 3:30 p.m.
 
Jennings tallied her point total on 7-of-9 shooting. Other Patriots in double digits were sophomore guards Kiara Croskey and Terriana Gray with 12 points apiece, while senior guard Tyra Myers added 10 points off the bench.  Senior forward Bentlee Chockley registered eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
Shawntenna Tillman led the Cobras (1-0) with 35 points, including six made three-pointers.
 
FMU opened the game with a quick 5-3 lead, but Coker responded with a 9-1 spurt to go up 12-6.  The Patriots answered with a 10-2 run to take a 16-14 advantage after a jump shot by freshman forward Mariana Moody.  Coker scored the final five points of the first quarter to lead 19-16.
 
Coker led by as many as six points in the second quarter, but FMU rallied to knot the score at 25-25 after a fast-break lay-in by Gray midway through the period.  An 8-1 spurt by the Cobras allowed them to pull away to a 38-32 halftime margin.
 
The lead swelled to nine at 45-36, but Francis Marion later pulled to within 49-46 after Myers drained a jumper with 4:06 left in the third quarter.  Coker led 57-50 heading to the final period.
 
FMU rallied to within six points, at 67-61, following a fast-break jumper by Moody with 5:59 remaining.  Coker scored the next six points and was never seriously threatened again.
 
Francis Marion connected on 50.9 percent of its field goal attempts, but was just 14-of-27 at the free throw stripe.  Coker shot 42.9 percent from floor, including 10-of-22 from behind the arc, and was 18-of-23 on charity tosses.