FLORENCE — Ask Heather Macy if this year’s Francis Marion’s women’s basketball team is the best she’s had in her three seasons there, and she answers quickly and decisively.
“By far,” she said Friday. “This team is more focused, more experienced and the new players who don’t have that experience have really listened to the returning players and picked up on everything. Our maturity is better, our leadership is better and we just work really, really hard.”
But unlike Macy’s first two FMU teams, this year’s team did not claim at least a share of the Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.
And that’s despite the fact FMU turned in its best league performance under Macy, going 16-2 in PBC play to go along with a 24-3 regular season mark. The Patriots, 25-3 after winning their PBC tournament quarterfinal game against USC Aiken on Tuesday, finished a game back of Lander, which was 17-1 in league play.
But bigger and better opportunities lie ahead, and the Patriots certainly haven’t lost sight of that.
If they beat Georgia College and State in today’s PBC semifinal game in Aiken, they’ll play for the championship against either Lander or Clayton State on Sunday. Regardless, FMU should easily be an NCAA team for the third straight year, and Macy doesn’t shy away from talking about her team’s national championship potential.
“You don’t see a lot of teams that go 24-3 in the regular season and don’t win a championship,” Macy said. “But we see it as progress and we’re better than we were a year ago. We’re peaking at the right time and we’re looking forward to this weekend.”
The No. 17 Patriots have had plenty of fun this season, thanks in large part to junior Shannon Singleton-Bates. The 5-foot-10 guard, who was named first-team All-PBC on Friday, is averaging 16.2 points a game and has led the Patriots in scoring in 12 games this season.
“I think she’s the best player in the conference and a first-team all-American,” Macy said. “I see her every day and I know she’s that good. What everyone else doesn’t see is her mentality and how driven she truly is.”
Singleton-Bates scored 16 and senior Shana Franks scored 24 in the first meeting between the teams Jan. 29, a 92-77 road win for the Patriots.
GCSU junior guard Chimere Jordan scored 28 points FMU in that first meeting on 9-of-15 shooting.
“She lit us up,” Macy said. “As she goes, they go. We’ll try to trade off players on her and try to wear her down a little. She’ll want the ball and she’ll shoot it a lot.”
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