Tuesday, November 28, 2000

Rowland Helps #19 FMU Put Kink in #20 Blue Hose 62-48

FLORENCE, SC - Junior forward Kendra Rowland (Sumter, SC) scored a career high 19 points and the Francis Marion University defense held Presbyterian College to 28.8 percent shooting as the 19th-ranked Patriots downed the 20th-ranked Blue Hose 62-48 in women's basketball action Tuesday night (Nov. 28).

FMU sophomore center Jontell Johnson (Charleston, SC) set new career highs with her first double-double (10 points and 14 rebounds) as the Patriot women improved to 5-1.  Johnson also blocked three shots as FMU forced Presbyterian into 23 turnovers and held the Blue Hose to only 15 field goals in 52 attempts.

Senior 6-0 forward Rachel Sloan led Presbyterian (4-4) with 14 points, but she connected on only four of 15 field goal attempts, well below her season percentage of 54.3 percent.

The two squads combined to miss 25 of the contest's first 35 shots as FMU took a 13-10 lead.  Presbyterian then scored the game's next eight points, and eventually carried a narrow 24-22 lead off the floor at halftime.

Francis Marion scored the first five points of the second stanza and never trailed again, although the scored was tied on two more occasions at 29-29 and 31-31.  After the final tie, Johnson helped the Patriots piece together an 11-2 run to take a 42-33 lead with 7:22 remaining.

Two free throws by Sloan with 3:03 left brought the Blue Hose to within 53-45, but Rowland and Christy Thomas each scored four points in an 8-0 run that gave FMU a 61-45 advantage.