FLORENCE, SC – Junior center Jasmine Grant scored seven points in late 9-2 fourth-quarter run and Francis Marion University prevailed over Ferrum College 67-61, Monday afternoon (Jan. 19) in Conference Carolinas women's basketball play.
 
Francis Marion, now 10-7 overall and 7-2 in conference play after the MLK Day win, also remains unbeaten in East Division play at 5-0.  The Patriots will play two road contests this week:  Wednesday at Erskine College (5 p.m.) and Saturday at Converse University (2 p.m.).
 
Sophomore point guard Kiara Croskey led the Patriots with her fourth consecutive 20-point outing, and 10th of the season as the she tallied 23 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a career-high eight steals.  Grant finished with 11 points and seven rebounds coming off the FMU bench.
 
Francis Marion junior guard Uriah Jennings chipped in 10 points.
 
Breyana Kimmons led Ferrum (6-12, 4-6) with 17 points.  This was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Ferrum registered the first bucket of the game, but Jennings answered with a three-pointer and FMU would lead for the remainder of the first quarter.  A three-pointer by junior guard MacKenzie Feagin gave the Patriots a 15-8 advantage, but Kimmons ended the first-period scoring with a three-pointer to make the margin 15-11.
 
Five quick points by Kimmons sparked an 8-0 Ferrum run to open the second quarter as the Panthers forged ahead 19-15.  Trailing 21-18, sophomore guard Jordan Mintz sparked a 9-0 Patriot spurt that gave FMU a 27-21 lead with 4:49 left before halftime.  Francis Marion led 33-29 at intermission.
 
FMU led by as many as eight points in the third quarter, but Ferrum closed to within 51-49 as the period ended.
 
A fast-break lay-in by Kimmons knotted the score at 55-55 with 7:07 left in the contest.  Grant gave Francis Marion the lead for good with a stick-back hoop on the next possession.  Lay-ups by Croskey and Grant expanded the margin to 61-55, and Grant later drained three of four free throw attempts to push the lead to 64-57 with 1:08 remaining.  Jennings made one charity toss and Croskey two in the final 34 seconds to seal the win.
 
The Patriot forced 25 Panther turnovers and held a commanding 27-14 edge in points off turnovers, as well as a 34-18 lead in points in the paint.
 
Francis Marion connected on 41.5 percent of its field goal attempts and was 19-of-25 at the free throw stripe, while holding the Panthers to 35.4 percent shooting from the field.  Ferrum was a near-perfect 20-of-21 on free throw attempts.