The Patriot

Issue date: 1/22/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Tony Gloster Sophomore foward Yasmean Dixon shoots a basket during a Jan. 9 win, 89-66, against the University of South Carolina at Aiken

First-year Coach Heather Macy has led the women's basketball team to the No. 24 spot in the USA Today/ESPN NCAA Division II Top-25 poll.

At 11-1, the team is off to their best start in 10 seasons and were second in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) standings with a 4-1 mark at press time.

Junior guard Jennifer Dyer scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures Jan. 16 as the team beat the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP), 101-8, in their seventh-straight win.

It marked only the second time in the 50-game series with UNCP that a team broke the 100-point barrier. FMU won in Pembroke, 105-45, on Feb. 3, 1999.

Following Dyer for the top-ranked scoring team in NCAA Division II was Creshenda Singletary with 14 points, while Brittany Young and Yasmean Dixon added 13 points each.

Dyer was seven of seven at the free-throw line and drained a trio of three-pointers. Singletary grabbed seven rebounds, and Young tallied four assists.

The Patriots hit 10 three-pointers, a season high, and connected on 21 of 30 free throws.

This is the first time in seven seasons the lady Patriots have been nationally ranked.

FMU last appeared in the national rankings in the No. 22 spot in the Dec. 12, 2001, poll. That ended a run in which the Patriots appeared in 45 of 53 national polls between January 1998 and December 2001.

North Georgia College & State University (No. 23) was the only other PBC school in last week's top 25. The Lady Saints handed Francis Marion its lone loss, 87-82, on Dec. 1.

The University of North Dakota (17-0) garnered 23 of 26 first-place votes and occupied the top position in the rankings.

-- From campus reports

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools