Fields scores 25 in Patriot road win at North Georgia

by Michael G. Hawkins

DAHLONEGA, GA — Junior guard Eboni Fields scored a career-high 25 points, including 11 straight Francis Marion University points midway through the second half, as the 19th-ranked Patriots claimed a big 74-65 road win at North Georgia College & State University, Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31) in Peach Belt Conference women’s basketball action.

Francis Marion (16-1, 9-1) maintains its 1.5 game lead in the PBC standings as the Patriots reach the midway point in the conference schedule. FMU also ruined Homecoming for the Lady Saints (5-13, 2-9) before the crowd of 3,189.

Fields came off the FMU bench to hit on 8-of-13 shots, including 6-of-8 three-point attempts. Sophomore Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while senior point guard Kevina Ransom added 10 points and six steals. Sophomore guard Robin Colbert tallied six points, five assists, and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Senior forward Syretha Marble led North Georgia with 21 points and nine rebounds.

FMU led 9-6 early in the opening half, but North Georgia used a 14-2 spurt to take a 20-11 lead with 12:11 left before halftime. Francis Marion immediately rallied to trim the deficit to 22-20 on a inside basket by Danielle Downs.

A layup by Creshenda Singletary with 1:12 remaining in the first half gave the Patriots a 31-30 lead at intermission.

With the score deadlocked at 34-34 early in the second half, another Singletary layup put FMU up by two. A layup by Marble with 12:19 left on the clock gave the Lady Saints a 45-44 lead, and after FMU tied the score at 47-47, Marble hit a free throw to give North Georgia a 48-47 advantage with 11:05 remaining.

Fields then began her hot streak with consecutive three-pointers to give Francis Marion a 53-48 lead. North Georgia answered with back-to-back three-pointers to swing back ahead 54-53 at the 9:04 mark. Fields then drained two free throws and followed with another three-pointer to put FMU ahead to stay at 58-54.

Entering the final minute, the Patriot lead was only three at 68-65. However, Ransom hit four straight free throws and Colbert was 2-of-2 at the stripe all in the final 29 seconds to seal the victory.

FMU held a 45-38 rebounding advantage, but had to overcome 29 turnovers. As a team, the Patriots were 8-of-18 from three-point distance.

The Patriot Women travel to Armstrong Atlantic State University on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.