Women's Basketball | 2/26/2010 9:05:40 PM

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - It was a tale of two halves as the Methodist women's basketball team jumped out to the early lead over ninth ranked Christopher Newport before falling 78-56 in the USA South Tournament Semifinal.

The Monarchs (16-11) scored the first six points of the game and held off the Captains through nearly six minutes before Christopher Newport (27-0) took the 13-12 lead at 14:17. The Captains led by as many as four points on a number of occasions, but Methodist senior Dezzire Gilliard tied the game at 24 with 6:31 remaining. The Monarchs regained the lead with a Gilliard layup and took the 31-30 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams exchanged baskets to start the second half before the score was tied at 38. Christopher Newport followed up with a 9-0 run to take control and the Monarchs could never recover as the Captains built up a 26-point lead. CNU finished with the 78-56 win and advanced to the USA South Tournament Championship on Saturday against second seeded Ferrum.

Senior Michaela Myers led the Monarchs with 17 points and junior Adriana Wilson scored 16 points. Gilliard finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Chelsie Schweers paced the Captains with 33 points on 7-for-11 shooting from behind the arc.

Box Score