Singletary and Dyer drive #19 Patriots past Lander 100-79

By Michael G. Hawkins

FLORENCE, SC — Senior forward Creshenda Singletary scored a career-high 26 points and senior guard Jennifer Dyer reached two milestones with 17 points and 10 assists to lead 19th-ranked Francis Marion University to a 100-79 win over Lander University, Wednesday night (Jan. 28) in Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball action.

Francis Marion retains its 1.5 game lead in the PBC standings with an 8-1 mark and ups its overall record to 15-1. The Patriots also remain unbeaten in the Smith University Center this season at 10-0 as a crowd of 1,035 cheered them on.

Singletary came off the FMU bench and connected on 10-of-14 shots and 6-of-6 free throws, while also hauling down a team-high nine rebounds. Dyer surpassed 1,000 points for her career and now stands at 1,010, while handing out a career high in assists. She played two seasons at Rollins College before transferring to FMU.

Sophomore guard Robin Colbert and freshman center Dominique Powell each scored 13 points and junior guard Eboni Fields added 12. Colbert tallied seven assists and seven steals and Powell also picked off nine rebounds.

Freshman guard Ciara Lyons led Lander (10-7, 5-5) with 20 points, while sophomore forward TaSheba Butler added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore center Shannon McKever recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out, and reserve guard Nardia Robbins chipped in 11 points and eight assists.

Dyer opened the contest with a three-pointer only three seconds in and the Patriots would never trail. A 19-4 run by FMU put the Patriots comfortably ahead 31-14 with 9:52 left before halftime. The margin would swell to 21 points (53-32) following a three-point play by Colbert. However Lander scored the final six points of the half to trim the margin to 53-38 at intermission.

The Bearcats continued that run by scoring the opening 14 points of the second half, cutting the FMU lead to 53-52 following a layup by McKever with 17:10 remaining. Francis Marion, the nation’s top scoring offense, finally broke its drought by scoring five straight points to lead 58-52.

A layup by Colbert with 13:35 left gave Francis Marion a 64-55 advantage, but Lander chipped away and trailed only 74-70 with 9:03 on the clock. The margin was cut to three at 80-77 after Lyons hit one of two free throws at the 4:18 mark. On the next possession, a layup by Powell ignited a game-closing 20-2 spurt by Francis Marion. The deciding run included eight points from Singletary.

FMU held a 62-32 margin in points-in-the-paint and led 17-8 in second-chance points thanks to a 54-42 rebounding advantage.

FMU plays at North Georgia College & State University on Saturday at 2 p.m., while Lander is at Georgia Southwestern State University also on Saturday at 2 p.m.