FLORENCE, S.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (11-11, 7-7) suffered a 94-61 loss to Francis Marion (16-5, 11-3) Wednesday evening at the Smith University Center in a Conference Carolinas contest at the Smith University Center.
The Patriots, who remain a half-game behind Chowan and tied with UNC Pembroke for second place in the East Division of the conference standings, put five players in double figures including a team-high 19 points from Jada Richards (Douglasville, Ga.) and 17 points from Kiana Lee (North Augusta, S.C.).
Francis Marion, who swept the season series from Barton, put the contest away early. The Patriots led by a 31-13 score after one quarter and went into intermission with a 52-26 advantage. Francis Marion finished with 13 three-pointers on the night and held a sizable margin on the boards, 51-33.
Barton senior guard
Lauren Walker (Charlotte, N.C.) led all scorers with 26 points but the Bulldogs couldn't recover from the early blitz by the home team. Walker moved into seventh place on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list with 1,758 points. Barton junior guard
Lauren Mingo (Clinton, Md.) also reached double figures for the Bulldogs, tallying 14 points in the losing.
Francis Marion shot 91 percent (21-of-23) from the charity stripe as well.
Barton remains on the road to take on league-foe Emmanuel on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., while Francis Marion hosts Lees-McRae on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2:00 p.m.
