PEMBROKE – With eight seconds remaining the UNCP women's basketball team had the opportunity to turn back visiting Francis Marion, but a costly turnover with two seconds left on the clock gave the Patriots a 72-69 victory in a Peach Belt Conference battle Thursday night inside of the English E. Jones Center.

The setback snapped a two game win streak for the Lady Braves (10-11, 4-8 PBC) against Francis Marion (9-9, 3-8). The Patriots improve to 36-20 all-time against the Black and Gold with the victory. Despite suffering the loss, UNCP remains in fourth-place in the PBC East standings. 

The Lady Braves shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from 3 point territory, but could not connect from the free throw line, shooting just 47 percent (8-of-17) from the line. UNCP committed 16 turnovers which resulted in 21 points for the Patriots. The Black and Gold outrebounded its opponent by a slight 39-36 margin.

Francis Marion earned its largest advantage at the charity stripe, connecting on 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) free throws. The Patriots relied heavily on their bench, finishing with 32 points from the reserves. 

Wayne Mack led a trio of UNCP players who scored in double-digits with 15 points. Chandrica Fuller and Kamille Horne contributed to the double-figure scoring effort with 12 points and 11 points, respectively. Horne had another standout performance from downtown, draining three treys for the Black and Gold. Defensively the Lady Braves were led by Kierra Haney who pulled down a game-high and career-best 14 rebounds, including 11 defensive rebounds. 

Dee Gray and Kristen Dickerson totaled 13 points apiece to lead the Patriots. Erin Pinkett chipped in 12 points, while Kim Roach added another 10 points for Francis Marion. Pinkett was 4-of-7 from behind the arch, and Gray was a perfect 7-of-7 from the line. Roach and Gray recorded eight boards apiece on the defensive side of the ball, while Dickerson grabbed the Patriots' only two steals of the night. 

"My first thought is they came on our court and score 72 points, and that just doesn't happen very often. We didn't go at them very well, particularly in the first half, but I thought we did a better job in the second half," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "In the end we had them retreating, they weren't organized defensively, we just weren't able to execute a play. But I thought out girls did some good things executing there at the end.  

UNCP was only trailing by three going into the second half and quickly tied it up, 49-49, at the 14:47 mark on a layup from Fuller. The Lady Braves took the lead, 50-49, less than a minute later on a made free throw from Mack and stayed in control for the next six minutes when the Patriots tied it up, 58-58. A triple from Taylor Gallentine gave the Black and Gold a slim three-point advantage, but a jumper from Dickerson put Francis Marion back on top, 62-61, and the Patriots were able to hang on to their lead for the final five minutes of action. With 14 seconds remaining the Lady Braves forced a Francis Marion turnover, allowing Horne to earn the steal and get the ball to Mack, who drilled a 3 point bucket to bring UNCP within one point, 70-69. The Lady Braves got the ball back with eight seconds on the clock and a chance to win the game, before a costly turnover put the ball back in the hands of the Patriots, who got consecutive made free throws from Gray to finish the game, 72-69. 

The first part of the opening half was a back-and-forth battle that saw four ties in less than 10 minutes. After a trey from Horne, tying the game at 16-16, the Patriots scored five straight points taking a 21-16 advantage and did not trail again before intermission. Francis Marion saw its biggest lead at 36-27 after a layup from Dickerson. The Lady Braves were able to cut the deficit to three, 41-38, after a layup from Fuller with five seconds left in the half.

Next up for the Black and Gold, the squad travels to St. Augustine, Fla., to face fellow PBC East rival, Flagler (9-9, 7-6) in the front half of a Saturday double header in the Flagler Gymnasium. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m.

To watch the full game click HERE.