Women's Basketball | 1/27/2013 4:45:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Methodist women's basketball team had four players score in double figures and the Monarchs held off a late charge from Piedmont in posting a 70-64 win over the Lions on Sunday afternoon at the Riddle Center.
 
Christina Schrader continued her torrid scoring of late, notching a game-high 17 points on 8-of-17 shooting, and is now averaging 18 points over her last four games. Brianna Robinson added a double-double of 16 points and 10 boards, T.T. Taylor contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds and Iesha Hayes chipped in 10 points.
 
The Lions took a 37-35 lead into halftime after Lauren Hamel came up with a steal and converted a layup at the other end in the final seconds of the first half. Methodist then opened the second period on an 11-0 run to take a 46-35 lead at the 15:54 mark when Hayes split a pair of free throws. The Monarch lead was still at nine points (54-45) after a Schrader basket at the 10:02 mark, but the Lions answered with a 10-1 run capped by a pair of free throws by Lauren Anderson with 4:29 left to play that tied the game at 55 apiece.
 
However, Hayes quickly followed with a jumper and a three wrapped around a Schrader layup that gave MU a 62-55 lead at the 2:39 mark and the Monarchs hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch in snuffing out the Lion's rally.
 
The separation gained by the Monarchs in the second half came after neither team managed to lead by more than five points in the first half. Piedmont shot 55.2 percent (16-29) from the floor in the opening period but was unable to pull away from the Monarchs, who shot just 41.7 percent (15-36) from the field, as Methodist held a decided 24-13 edge on the glass in the opening 20 minutes. Additionally, MU grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, two more than Piedmont's team total in the first half. The shooting flipped in the second half as MU shot 52.2 percent (12-23) over the final 20 minutes, compared to just 29.2 percent (7-24) for Piedmont.
 
Kiki Thompson led the Lions with 13 points and Lauren Hamel added 10 points, three assists and four steals. Anderson netted eight points and nine rebounds and Alyssa Jones contributed eight points, four assists and five steals.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday when they host Mary Baldwin at 2:00 pm.