#7 FMU Women drop second OT decision, 86-80

MORROW, GA – Guard Marie St. Fort scored 10 of her 16 points in overtime to help Clayton State University to an 86-80 upset of seventh-ranked Francis Marion University, Saturday afternoon (Feb. 28) in a match-up of the two top teams in the Peach Belt Conference.

Francis Marion (24-3, 17-3) ends its regular season with back-to-back overtime losses. However, the Patriots had previously clinched the PBC championship and will enter next week’s conference tournament in Aiken as the top seed. FMU will play its opening game on Thursday afternoon.

Senior forward Creshenda Singletary led Francis Marion with 14 points off the Patriot bench. The Johnsonville native now has 998 career points, two shy of becoming the 24th Patriot to reach the 1,000-point mark.

Junior guard Shana Franks scored 12 points, while senior guard Jennifer Dyer added 11 and sophomore guard Robin Colbert 10. Colbert also hauled down six rebounds.

Forward Shanrika Hardeman led Clayton State (22-5, 16-4) with 22 points and 18 rebounds, while reserve Lesheria Stevens tallied 17 points and nine rebounds.

Francis Marion scored the game’s opening five points and led by as many as 11 in the opening half, before settling for a 37-28 halftime advantage.

Despite shooting only 33.3 percent in the second half, Francis Marion led for all but 10 seconds, but that was enough for the Lady Lakers to force the extra session.

The Patriots led 51-39 following a three-pointer by Dyer with 11:45 remaining. Clayton State answered with a 14-2 run that knotted the game at 53-53 after a layup by Hardeman with 6:26 left. FMU would go back on top and held a 61-55 margin when Colbert drained a jumper with 3:29 on the clock.

Two free throws by Colbert left the FMU lead at four points (65-61) with 1:01 remaining. A free throw by Stevens and a basket by Hardeman trimmed the lead to 65-64. Two free throws by St. Fort gave the Lady Lakers a 66-65 lead, but FMU senior point guard Kevina Ransom was fouled in the final seconds. She hit the second of the two free throws to tie the game and force overtime.

Two three-pointers by St. Fort gave Clayton State the early lead in overtime, but FMU rallied to go up 74-72 on a tip-in by Singletary. A basket and two free throws by St. Fort gave Clayton State the lead for good and the Lady Lakers held on by hitting 8-of-12 free throws in the final two minutes.

Francis Marion shot only 4-of-28 from beyond the three-point arc and was outrebounded 54-47. The Patriots did force 34 Clayton State turnovers, but the Lady Lakers hit 25-of-33 attempts at the free throw line.

By Michael G. Hawkins