FLORENCE, SC – Freshman guard Kiara Croskey scored a career-high 25 points to lead Francis Marion University to 82-48 Homecoming victory over Emmanuel University (Ga.), Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon in Conference Carolinas women's basketball action.
 
With the win, the Patriots post their third-straight 20-win season (20-5) and improve their conference mark to 15-3. Francis Marion travels to Rome, Ga., on Monday (Feb. 24) to face Shorter University at 5:30 p.m.
 
Francis Marion has won at least 20 games in 26 of 52 all-time seasons.
 
Croskey connected on 12-of-21 field goal attempts, pulled down nine rebounds, and grabbed four steals.  Senior guard Trinity Adams chipped in an additional 20 points, including 9-of-11 shooting at the free throw stripe. Adams snared eight rebounds and registered four steals of her own.
 
Also scoring in double figures was senior forward Kiana Lee with 13 points.
 
Naomi Roberts and Abby Crawford paced the Lions (12-14, 11-8) with 12 points apiece.
 
Francis Marion jumped ahead in the opening minutes of the first quarter and never trailed.  The Patriots assumed a 10-2 advantage after Croskey scored on a lay-up.
 
A 6-0 spurt late in the period upped the margin to 18-6 before Lee drained a three-pointer to end the quarter's scoring and give the Patriots a 21-8 margin.
 
Lee opened the second period with a floater in the paint to expand the lead to 15 points (23-8).  Midway through the period, Emmanuel climbed back to within single digits at 23-14. Another 6-0 spurt pushed the lead back to 15 points at 29-14, the same margin FMU would own at halftime by a 35-20 tally.
 
Sophomore forward Trinity Delaney drained a three-pointer from the top of the key in the opening minutes of the third quarter to lift the Patriots to 38-22 lead. A 12-point run to close out the third quarter swelled the margin to 62-36, with Croskey scoring the first nine points of the run.
 
FMU's largest lead came at 77-40 following a three-point play by junior center Sommer Joseph with 4:32 remaining.
 
Francis Marion shot 43.5 percent from the floor and was 17-of-21 at the foul line.  The Patriot defense held the Lions to 33.3 percent shooting, including only 2-of-14 from behind the three-point arc.  FMU outrebounded Emmanuel 46-32, held a 20-4 advantage in points-off-turnovers, and claimed a 27-9 edge in second-chance points and a 14-2 margin in fast-break points.