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AIKEN, SC - Francis Marion University forced 33 turnovers Thursday afternoon as they defeated North Georgia 80-61 in the first Peach Belt Conference women's quarterfinal game in the Convocation Center.

used a familiar strategy on Thursday in the first Peach Belt Conference women's quarterfinal game, forcing multiple turnovers and converting those to points in a 80-61 win over North Georgia College & State University. The Patriots (25-3) advance to Saturday's semifinal round where they will face the Armstrong Atlantic State - Lander winner.

The Lady Saints finish the season 9-20, while FMU improves to 25-3 overall and advance to Saturday's semifinal round where they will face the Armstrong Atlantic State - Lander winner.
 
Tied at nine, FMU got a Jennifer Dyer trey to start its run at the 12:14 mark, and the forced four turnovers along the way, the last coming on a Robin Colbert steal which lead to a Dominique Powell layup to cap the run and make 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. Creshenda 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.
 
In all, FMU forced 33 turnovers in the game, scoring 25 points off those. The FMU reserves outscored those from North Georgia 36-14.
 
Singletary led the Patriots with 16 points off the bench, becoming the 24 FMU player to surpass 1,000 points in a career. Shannon Singleton-Bates added 13, while Jennifer Dyer chipped in 11 and Robin Colbert 10. Kevina Ransom dished out 12 assists and collected six steals in the contest. Colbert lead the Patriots in rebounding with six.

Syretha Marble led North Georgia with 20 points - 12 of which came at the free-throw line (12-16). Whitney Randolph added 13 points and six rebounds. The Lady Saints shot 52 percent in the second half to finish at 39 percent overall, and lead in rebounding by a 34-31 count. North Georgia ends its season at 9-20.

North Georgia’s Lindsey Kitchens and Syretha Marble played their last games for the Lady Saints, as Marble finished her career with 1,881 points to rank 6th in the history of the Peach Belt conference.

PBC Tournament Game Quotes - North Georgia vs. Francis Marion

North Georgia head coach Buffie Burson:
“We ran into a real good basketball team. Francis Marion was ready to play. I thought we were, and we really wanted the ballgame. But they played extra hard the whole time.”

“We really wanted to slow the tempo down offensively as much as possible, but we were turning it over before we got to that point. There was stretch in the first half where they got a couple of steals in a row that led to baskets for them.”

“We’ve been a one-half team all season long. But we haven’t had the work quit in our vocabulary.”