Women's Basketball | 2/1/2014 7:07:00 PM

Box Score DANVILLE, Va. - The Methodist women's basketball team lost on the road to Averett, 76-64, on Saturday afternoon at the E. Stuart James Grant Center.
 
Both MU (9-7, 5-5 USA South) and AU (3-12, 2-7 USA South) came out shooting during the first six minutes of play as the Monarchs grabbed a 13-8 edge with 13:56 on the clock. In that span, Methodist made 6-of-10 field-goal attempts (.600) but had five turnovers. Averett also shot over 50.0 percent from the floor as it converted 4-of-7 shots (.571) but gave up the ball five times as well.
 
The action would remain tight as the first half continued to unfold as Jackie Lyles hit a free throw to knot things up at 29-29 with 3:11 left in the first period, capping a 6-0 Methodist run. Averett would respond, however, with nine of the contest's next 10 points to claim a 38-30 lead at intermission.
 
The Cougars would never see their edge sink to any lower than six points in second half as MU shot 36.0 percent from the floor in the second half (9-25), and turned the ball over 14 times in that time frame.
 
Overall Methodist shot 38.9 percent from the field (21-54) and hit 20-of 31 free-throw attempts (.645). AU converted 47.3 percent of its shots from the field (26-55) and hit 21-of-33 free throws (.636). The Monarchs held a narrow 39-37 advantage in rebounds.
 
Lyles had a career-high 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals for MU. Ayanna Pegues chipped in 11 points, and Chandler Christensen totaled 10.
 
Jessica Myers led Averett with 20 points and added five rebounds. Brianna Taylor had 18 points and six rebounds, and Oneka Jones came off the bench to contribute 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
Methodist will return to the Riddle Center for its next game when it hosts Meredith on Wednesday. Game time is set for 7:30 pm.