COLUMBUS, GA – A 15-3 run by 24th-ranked Columbus State University midway through the game keyed the Cougars to an 87-73 win over Francis Marion University, Friday afternoon (Dec. 19) in non-conference women's basketball play.
 
The Patriots (6-4) complete a four-game road swing and will now break for the Christmas holidays.  FMU returns to action at home on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, with a noon tip-off against Carson-Newman University.
 
Sophomore point guard Kiara Croskey led Francis Marion with 18 points and seven rebounds, while senior forward Bentlee Chockley and sophomore forward Terriana Gray each tallied 15 points, with Gray's total being a career high.  Junior guard MacKenzie Feagin added 14 points off the Patriot bench.
 
Letiya Reeves led five Cougars (10-2) in double digits with 24 points. 
 
A highly entertaining first half featured 16 lead changes and three ties.  A three-point play by Gray gave FMU a 14-10 advantage in the first quarter, but CSU responded with a 5-0 spurt to go back ahead.  A stick-back by Croskey put FMU up 22-21, but the Cougars scored the final five points of the quarter to forge a 26-22 lead.
 
Francis Marion opened the second quarter with a 12-5 run, capped by a lay-in by junior center Jasmine Grant, to lead 34-31.  Five quick points by CSU in a span of 18 seconds rallied the Cougars to a 36-34 advantage.  A three-pointer by Feagin, her fourth of the opening half, regained the lead for the Patriots at 37-36.  Following a three-point play by the Cougars, two free throws by Grant knotted the contest at 39-39 with 3:15 left before halftime.  Columbus State then closed the half with a 10-3 spurt to carry a 49-42 margin into the locker room at intermission.   
 
The run continued after halftime as CSU scored the first five points of the third period.  FMU would get no closer than eight points for the remainder of the game.  The margin swelled to 15 points (67-52), but buckets by Croskey, Grant, and Gray to close the quarter drew FMU to within 67-58.
 
CSU opened a 17-point margin in the fourth quarter before Francis Marion made one final push.  A pull-up jumper by Croskey followed by two Feagin free throws drew FMU within 81-71 with 3:23, but that was as close as the Patriots would get.
 
Francis Marion shot 41.7 percent from the floor and was 18-of-24 at the foul line, while Columbus State drained 47.9 percent of its field goal attempts, including 12-of-30 from behind the three-point arc, and was 7-of-12 on free throws.