#11 Patriot Women beat GCSU 72-69 – Win PBC Title

FLORENCE, SC – Senior forward Creshenda Singletary scored a game-clinching layup with nine seconds left and 11th-ranked Francis Marion University beat Georgia College & State University 72-69, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) to win the 2008-09 Peach Belt Conference championship.

The win coupled with a loss by Clayton State University handed the Patriots their second straight regular-season title and third in team history. The Patriots will also be the number one seed in the PBC Tournament, March 4-8, in Aiken.

Francis Marion (24-1, 17-1) runs its winning steak to 15 games, fifth longest in team history. The 24-1 start is now second only behind the 1998-99 team (also a PBC champion) which won 26 of its first 27 contests.

Three reserves came off the Patriot bench to score in double figures: junior guard Eboni Fields with 18, Singletary with 14, and junior guard Shana Franks with 13. Senior point guard Kevina Ransom recorded nine points, eight assists, five steals, and five rebounds.

Altogether the FMU bench outscored the Bobcat bench 52-26.

GCSU (16-8, 11-6) was led by guard Emily Bixler with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The senior was 13-of-13 at the free throw line, only two makes shy of the PBC single-game record. Tiauna Brantley added 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Francis Marion scored the game’s opening five points and never trailed, although the margin was cut to one on many occasions.

FMU led 27-14 following a Fields’ three-pointer with 7:09 left before halftime. However, GCSU responded with a 17-6 run that cut the FMU advantage to 33-31 at intermission.

In the second stanza, Francis Marion again opened a double-digit lead. The margin would swell to 16 points at 50-34 after a layup by Danelle Downs with 15:41 left in the game. A layup by reserve center Dominique Powell kept the FMU lead at 13 (60-47) with 9:32 remaining.

GCSU ran off 10 straight points over the next 2:13 to cut the lead to 60-57. A pair of free throws by Bixler trimmed that margin to one at 63-62 with 2:55 left. A three-pointer by Fields upped the lead to 66-62, and two charity tosses by Powell with 39 ticks remaining left Francis Marion holding a 70-65 lead.

A jumper by Mandi Dudish brought GCSU to within 70-67, and following a missed free throw by FMU, Brantley scored on a layup to further cut the lead to 70-69 at the :14 mark.

On the ensuing FMU possession, Ransom found Singletary for a fast-break layup that gave FMU a three-point lead, and GCSU’s Shandrea Moore missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with three seconds left.

Francis Marion shot only 30 percent in the opening half, but warmed to 44.1 percent in the second frame. The Patriots were 8-of-22 from beyond the three-point arc.

The Bobcats stayed close by sinking 22-of-25 free throw attempts.

Francis Marion will celebrate Senior Night on Wednesday when FMU hosts Armstrong Atlantic State University at 5:30 p.m.

By Michael G. Hawkins