Women's Basketball | 12/6/2009 4:35:19 PM

STAUNTON, Va. - The Mary Baldwin Fighting Squirrels stopped the Methodist Monarchs' winning streak at five by taking the 48-45 win on Sunday.

Both teams struggled offensively, particularly in the first half when Mary Baldwin (3-2, 2-0) was just 5-for-26 from the floor and the Monarchs (5j-4, 2-1) went 6-for-26. The Squirrels held the 19-18 advantage at halftime, but MU came back to take the lead in the second half.

Freshman Kahla Godette put the Monarchs up by two on a 3-pointer just 1:38 into the second half and a jumper from senior Dezzire Gilliard gave Methodist the four point lead. The Monarchs could not stretch their lead as Mary Baldwin came back and tied the game at 29 and 31 before leading by as many as seven points with 1:39 to go in the game.

Down by four with 23 seconds to go, Methodist junior Adriana Wilson hit a jumper to cut the lead to two and stop the clock. The Monarchs fouled to send Sabrina Fesper to the line for Mary Baldwin. Fesper hit her first of two free throws and Gilliard grabbed the rebound to give Methodist one final opportunity, but the shot would not fall as the Squirrels took the 48-45 win.

Gilliard led the team with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Wilson added eight points.

Denise Johnson paced Mary Baldwin with 19 points while Desper finished with nine points and 14 rebounds. Kara Hawkins added nine points and 11 rebounds.

Methodist will take a break from competition for the holidays and kick off the new year by hosting Guilford College Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.

Box Score