WILSON, N.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (8-16, 8-9) put up a good fight but fell to Francis Marion (18-6, 16-2), 73-68, Wednesday evening in a Conference Carolinas contest at Wilson Gymnasium.
The Patriots had tremendous balance on the night with six players reaching double figures including a team-high 15 points from Lauryn Taylor (Blythewood, S.C.) as Francis Marion won its 16th straight game and remained a game behind Belmont Abbey in the league regular season standings.
Barton was led by junior guard
Lauren Walker (Charlotte, N.C.) with a game-high 20 points while junior guard
Payton Sutton (Charlotte, N.C.) added 12 points and eight assists but the Bulldogs were outscored by a 19-9 margin in the fourth and final stanza in the setback.
Trailing by a 68-67 score with just under 90 seconds remaining in the contest, the Patriots scored the final six points to seal the victory. Francis Marion's Aniyah Oliver (Goose Creek, S.C.) hit the game-winning jump shot at the 1:14 mark of the fourth period and finished with 14 points in the triumph.
Francis Marion also connected on 23-of-26 free throw attempts and completed the season sweep of Barton.
Barton hits the road to take on Southern Wesleyan on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., in a Conference Carolinas contest while Francis Marion hosts North Greenville Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
