Florence, South Carolina - Shovonder Clarke scored 20 points and ripped down 18 rebounds but her performance was not enough as Kennesaw State fell 66-60 to Francis Marion Saturday afternoon at the Smith University Center in Florence, South Carolina.

The Lady Owls (10-8, 2-5 PBC) fell behind early, 12-4, thanks to some poor shooting from the field, connecting on just two of their first ten field goals. Overall KSU shot just 19.6 percent (9-for-46) in the opening frame.

But despite the cold spell, the Lady Owls were able to battle back to draw within two points, 20-18, when Clarke converted on a layup with 9:09 remaining.

Francis Marion (7-12, 3-5) answered with a 16-4 run to open the game up and would eventually take a 40-27 lead into the halftime break.

It took the Lady Owls most of the second half to claw their way back into the game, but with some hot shooting from Clarke, timely offensive rebounds by Stephanie Scearce (eight points, 15 rebounds), and blocks from Lauren Harris (seven points, ten rebounds, nine blocks), the nation's leading shot blocker, KSU found themselves down by only two points, 53-51.

Then a three-pointer by D.J. Galbiati (five points) with 7:48 remaining gave the Lady Owls their first lead since the opening minutes.

Kennesaw State extended its lead to 57-54 following a Clarke three-pointer with just under four minutes to play, but FMU's duo of Brittany Young (15 points) and Creshenda Singletary (20 points)combined for a 9-0 spurt that put the Patriots back in front 63-57 with only 90 seconds left to play.

KSU cut the lead to 64-60 on the three-pointer by Danielle Bates (seven points) with 31 seconds left, but Young and Jennifer Howard (14 points) each made one of two free throws and KSU missed on two three-point attempts as the Patriots snapped a three-game skid against the Lady Owls. KSU outrebounded FMU 58-42, but committed 23 turnovers. Although the Lady Owls warmed to shoot 35.1 percent in the final half, they finished the game at 26.5 percent, and only seven-of-27 from beyond the three-point arc.

Kennesaw State returns to action on Wednesday, February 2 when they take on Armstrong Atlantic at the Spec Landrum Centre. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30.