Women's Basketball | 1/26/2013 4:52:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Heather Miller scored 27 points, including the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left to play as LaGrange College knocked off the Methodist women's basketball team, 87-84, on Saturday afternoon at the Riddle Center.
 
Miller's layup with 1:08 left to play gave the Panthers (11-6, 6-4 USA South) an 85-84 lead after the Monarchs' Christina Schrader had put MU (11-6, 6-4 USA South) on top, 84-83, just 11 seconds earlier. Following Miller's bucket, Emily Huneycutt missed a three on the other end and the Panthers' Katie Covington came down with the defensive rebounds and LaGrange called for time with 45 seconds left. Out of the timeout, LC's Madison McDonald missed from close range but Lauren Pounds came down with the offensive rebound with 29 seconds left forcing the Monarchs to put Katie Covington on the line with 15 seconds left. Covington made good on both of her free throw attempts to make it a three-point game (87-84).
 
Following a pair of MU timeouts, the Monarchs were unable to get a clean look at a three and Iesha Hayes' long two just before the buzzer fell short and the Panthers escaped with the win.
 
The second half alone featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, all in the final 8:58, as the two teams traded the lead back and forth down the stretch. The Monarchs trailed by 10 points at the half (53-43), but opened the second period on an 11-2 run to pull within a single point (55-54) on a Schrader layup with 13:56 to play. Schrader scored seven of the Monarchs' 11 points during the run. Still trailing by one (65-64), Chandler Christensen gave the Monarchs their first lead of the second half (67-65) with three-point play with 8:58 to play. From there, neither team led by more than two until Covington's free throws that sealed the win.
 
In the first half, the Panthers jumped out to an early 12-5 lead by the 16:45 mark before the Monarchs came back to take a 17-14 lead on a triple from Huneycutt with 13:42 to play. Methodist's lead grew to five points (22-17) on a jumper from Courtney Woods with 10:40 to play. However, Caroline Brashier drilled back-to-back shots from beyond the arc to put LaGrange on top, 23-22, less than a minute later. LC stretched its lead out to 36-28 on a jumper by Raven Trammell before Methodist came right back with a 13-4 run to inch ahead, 41-40, with 3:07 left in the half.
 
Following a technical foul on the Methodist bench, Covington made 1-of-2 free-throw attempts and the Panthers closed the half on a 13-2 scoring burst, including five points apiece from Brashier and Heather Miller, to head into the locker room up 10 (53-43).
 
For the game, the Monarchs shot 42.4 percent (28-66) from the field, while LaGrange shot 42.0 percent, hitting on 29-of-69 shot attempts. The two teams were also nearly deadlocked at the free-throw line, where the Monarchs finished 22-of-30 (.733) and the Panthers were 22-of-29 (.759). MU also forced LaGrange into 21 turnovers while committing just 17, but the Panthers held a 44-37 edge on the boards, including a 23-16 edge on the offensive glass.
 
Schrader led four Monarchs in double figures with 22 points and added 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Huneycutt added 14 points and Brianna Robinson and Chandler Christensen chipped in 12 points apiece. Robinson added six assists and five rebounds.
 
Miller led all scorers with 27 points and added a team-high nine rebounds to go with three steals. Covington and McDonald chipped in 12 points apiece, and Brashier added 11. Covington also contributed eight rebounds and three assists.
 
The Monarchs are back in action tomorrow when they host Piedmont at 2:00 pm.