BELMONT, NC – Junior forward Trinity Adams scored a game-high 17 points, including a personal 5-0 spurt late in the fourth quarter, to key Francis Marion University to a 61-54 upset road win over 23rd-ranked Belmont Abbey College, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
Francis Marion improves to 14-5 overall and 9-3 in conference play, while the Crusaders drop to 17-4 and 11-2 and suffer their first home loss of the season.
 
FMU will play at UNC Pembroke on Monday at 5 p.m. in a game that was originally postponed on Jan. 22 due to winter weather.  The Patriots will then host Barton College on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
Adams shot 6-of-11 from the floor and made a trio of three-pointers, while also hauling down nine rebounds.  Senior forward Kiana Lee scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and pulled down seven boards, while freshman point guard Kiara Croskey added 12 points and seven rebounds.  Lee passed Sherer Gordon for 29th place on the FMU career scoring list with 1,090 points.
 
Riley James led Belmont Abbey with 16 points and eight rebounds.
 
Belmont Abbey took an early 9-5 lead and led 16-13 with 3:09 left in the opening quarter.  FMU finished the quarter on a 7-0 run – two hoops by Lee and a three-pointer from Adams – to assume a 20-16 advantage.  The Patriots would never trail again.
 
Both teams struggled to score in the second period, combining to go 4-of-23 from the floor.  The Patriots held the Crusaders to only one made bucket.  Francis Marion led by as many as eight points at 25-17 after jump shot by junior forward Danielle Jackson before settling for a 27-22 halftime margin.
 
An 8-0 run in the third quarter upped the Patriot lead to double digits at 38-27.  After a Belmont Abbey basket, sophomore center Trinity Delaney drained a three-pointer to give FMU its largest lead at 41-29.  The Crusaders pulled to within 43-36 at the end of the period.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders trimmed the deficit to 51-45 after a basket by Abigail Crain with 4:32 on the clock.  Adams converted a pair of free throws and hit a three-pointer to restore the advantage to double digits and FMU cruised to the win.
 
Francis Marion connected on 42.3 percent of its field goal attempts, including seven made three-pointers, and was 10-of-12 at the free throw stripe.  The Patriot defense held the Crusaders to only 28.6 percent shooting from the floor and Belmont Abbey was 17-of-20 on free throws.