SPARTANBURG, SC – Despite a valiant rally, top-seeded and short-handed Francis Marion University lost a narrow 76-70 decision to fifth-seeded Lees-McRae College, Saturday evening (Feb. 12) in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
Francis Marion (19-10) will now wait to see if it earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.  The selection show is set for Sunday at 10:30 p.m.  FMU was ranked sixth in the final regular-season regional rankings.
 
Conference Player of the Year Kirara Croskey led the Patriots with 22 points, on 8-of-11 shooting, and seven rebounds.  Sophomore Terriana Gray posted her fourth double-double of the year with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while adding three assists and two steals.  Junior Uriah Jennings tallied 16 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
 
Due to injuries, FMU dressed only eight players for the contest.
 
Nadiya Hairston paced the Bobcats (22-7) with 28 points and 11 rebounds, and it was her own 6-0 spurt in the fourth quarter that helped decide the contest.  Kirsten Watt added 15 points.
 
A three-point play by Croskey with 1.3 seconds left in the third quarter gave Francis Marion a 58-56 advantage heading into the final period.
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A pair of buckets by junior center Jasmine Grant twice gave the Patriots four-point leads at 64-60 and 66-62.  Following a missed three-pointer that could have pushed the margin to seven, Hairston drained back-to-back three-pointers to push the Bobcats up 68-66.  On the ensuing possession, Croskey scored on a driving lay-in to knot the score at 68-68 with 1:51 remaining.
 
Hairston converted a three-point play break the deadlock at 71-68, but a 13-foot jumper by sophomore guard Jordan Mintz brough the Patriots to within 71-70 with 1:29 on the clock.  Hairston hit two free throws to push the margin to 73-70 with 1:01 left.  The Patriots then had two three-point attempts to tie that missed and the Bobcats sealed the victory with three free throws in the final seconds.
 
After Croskey opened the game with a free throw, Lees-McRae rattled off 11 straight points to force an FMU timeout.  A pull-up jumper in the paint by Croskey trimmed the deficit to 21-15 at the end of the first quarter.
 
In the second period, the Bobcats took a 32-25 lead with 3:40 left before halftime.  However, Gray scored on fast-break lay-up, and Croskey drained a pull-up jumper and then two free throws to narrow the margin to 32-21 at intermission.
 
A three-point play by Gray to open the third quarter scoring gave FMU its first lead since the opening seconds at 34-32.  Lees-McRae responded with a 6-0 run to go back on top.  A three-pointer by Mintz later tied the game at 54-54, and then Croskey's three-point play gave Francis Marion the lead heading into the final period.
 
FMU held a 42-20 edge in points-in-the-paint.
 
Francis Marion shot 38.4 percent from the floor and was 10-of-15 at the foul line, while Lees-McRae converted 42.3 percent of its field goal attempts, including 11-of-26 from behind the arc, and hit 21-of-27 free throw attempts.