Defense keys Patriot win in PBC Tournament Quarterfinals

AIKEN, SC – Top-seeded and 14th-ranked Francis Marion University used a familiar strategy on Thursday afternoon (March 5) in the first Peach Belt Conference women's quarterfinal game, forcing multiple turnovers and converting those into points in an 80-61 win over North Georgia College & State University.

The Patriots improve to 25-3 and advance to Saturday's semifinal round at 2 p.m., where they will face the Armstrong Atlantic State/Lander winner.

Senior forward Creshenda Singletary led the Patriots with 16 points off the bench. The Johnsonville native hit on 7-of-9 shots and became the 24th FMU player to surpass 1,000 points in a career when she scored on a layup midway through the first half.

Sophomore All-PBC wing player Shannon Singleton-Bates added 13, while Jennifer Dyer chipped in 11 and Robin Colbert 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. All-PBC point guard Kevina Ransom scored nine points, dished out a season-high 12 assists, and collected six steals.

FMU shot 47 percent overall, including 6-of-17 from three-point range.

Senior forward Syretha Marble led NGCSU (9-20) with 20 points - 12 of which came at the free-throw line where she was 12-of-16. Forward Whitney Randolph added 13 points and six rebounds. The Saints shot 39 percent from the floor, and held a 34-31 rebounding advantage.

Francis Marion forced 18 first-half turnovers and scored 14 points off of those, while nailing 51.7 percent of its shots from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. FMU used a 14-2 run midway through the period to gain control. Tied at nine, Dyer hit a three-pointer to start the run at the 12:14 mark, and then the Patriots forced four turnovers along the way, the last coming on a Colbert steal which led to a Dominique Powell layup to cap the run and made it 23-11 with 7:52 left.

FMU would extend the margin to as much as 17 points on four occasions, the last providing the halftime margin of 41-24. Singletary scored the final points on layup with 23 seconds left.

The Patriots continued the pressure in the second half, extending their lead to 23 points in the first three-and-a-half minutes of play. North Georgia got as close as 55-41 after a Kari McCann three-pointer with 11:46 left, but could get no closer.

A three-pointer by Eboni Fields, a jumper by Singletary, and two free throws by Danelle Downs helped FMU extend its advantage back to 23 points, 69-46 with 6:07 left.

In all, FMU forced 33 Saints turnovers in the game, scoring 25 points off those. The FMU reserves outscored those from North Georgia 36-14.

“We played well,” said Singletary. “We came to the tournament as a 0-0 squad looking to gets its first win, and we accomplished that.” When asked about reaching the 1,000-point mark, she said, “It is nice to reach that, but I wasn’t worried about it. I just cut hard to get open today, and our offense came off our defense.”

“Anytime you get a tournament win, you are excited to advance,” said FMU second-year coach Heather Macy. “Our offense stems from our defense. I was pleased with our squad’s response when North Georgia made its run in the second half. We answered right back with a run of our own.”

(from Michael G. Hawkins, FMU SID)