FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Christian Sanders recorded her first collegiate double-double and the Methodist women's basketball team pulled away from Mary Baldwin for a 79-48 win on Wednesday evening at the Riddle Center.
 
Sanders shot 9 of 17 from the field, including 4 of 7 from long range, and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for her first career double-double. She also added a pair of assists and two blocks. Kaneya Chambers was one of three Monarchs to join Sanders in double figures with 14 points to go with four assists and five boards. Shelly McDonald scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Jalisia Campbell scored 11 points with nine rebounds and five steals.
 
Anna Ramirez led the Fighting Squirrels (2-15, 0-6 USA South) with 14 points off the bench. Aayana Nedd added 10 points four assists and four steals, Nicole Blackburn scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds, and Khai Davidson added eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
 
A fast start, including five points from Sanders, propelled the Monarchs (4-13, 2-4) to a 12-0 lead midway through the first period. Mary Baldwin then closed the period on a 15-5 run to close the gap to 17-15 after the opening 10 minutes.
 
A free throw from Blackburn at the 4:51 mark of the second quarter knotted the score at 20-20 before MU took control of the contest. The Monarchs limited the Fighting Squirrels to 9 of 33 shooting (.272) the remainder of the contest with 15 turnovers as they steadily pulled away.
 
Behind six points from McDonald, Methodist closed the second quarter on a 16-2 run for a 36-22 lead at the break. In the third quarter, Mary Baldwin got is deficit as low as 11 points (45-34), but another big run, this time a 19-3 spurt, pushed MU's lead to 64-37 entering the fourth quarter.
 
As a team, MU shot 39.5 percent (32-81) from the field and out rebounded MBU 55-37, including 25-11 on the offensive glass. MBU shot 32.1 percent (18-56) as a team and committed 20 total turnovers.
 
The Monarchs are idle until Saturday when they host Averett at 4:00 pm.