PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke women's basketball team shot a season-best 49.1 percent and used a dominating defensive performance to ice down red-hot Francis Marion, 75-63, on Wednesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

The result helped the Braves (7-7, 2-5 PBC) improve to 6-1 at home this season and gave the club consecutive wins for the first time since mid-November. It was just the third loss of the season for the Patriots (13-3, 4-3) who fell for the seventh time in the last 11 matchups with the Black & Gold.

Mary Robinson poured in a career-best 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while also tacking up her second career double-double with 11 rebounds as well. Jonissa Monley posted her second-straight (third career) double-double with 18 points and a season-best 14 boards as well. Jasmine Huntley added 14 points and a career-high eight assists, while Avery Locklear turned in 10 points and a trio of assists.

Camille Dash scored a career- and game-best 23 points to pace the Patriots, who shot a season-low 28.6 percent in the setback, including a dismal 25.8 percent effort in the first half. TeTe Flowers tallied 10 points and Alaysia Watts grabbed a team-best 13 rebounds for the visitors as well.

A running layup by Airico Williams with 4:53 left in the first half gave the Braves a 33-21 advantage, but Francis Marion stormed back to tie the score up at 33 apiece with 1:49 left before the break. A layup by Robinson would give the hosts a 35-33 edge heading into the break, however. Robinson's bucket would signal a 13-3 run by the Braves that bridged the second and third quarters and gave the Black & Gold a 46-33 lead after Locklear's 3-pointer just four minutes into the third stanza.

The Patriots whittled their deficit back to just a single possession, 53-51, on a jumper by Dash just 49 seconds into the final quarter, but the Braves responded with a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to all but put the game away. A 3-pointer by Huntley with 2:10 left to play would give the hosts a game-best 16-point advantage (73-57).

The Braves will close out a three-game home stand on Saturday when they lace up to battle North Georgia (12-4, 4-3) in the front half of a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.