DANVILLE, Va. -- The Methodist women's lacrosse team outscored Averett 9-3 in the second half to warn a 14-9 win over the Cougars on Saturday afternoon.
 
Madison Ronelli scored three of her four goals in the second half and MU (5-4, 4-1 USA South) outshot Averett (5-5, 1-4) by a 19-9 margin over the final 30 minutes.
 
The Cougars took a 6-5 lead into halftime and extended that margin to 7-5 just 51 seconds into the second half. Ronelli answered with her first goal of the second half to make it 7-6 with 27:05 to play, but Averett went back up two (8-6) on Abby Taylor's goal at the 25:36 mark.
 
Erin Cima ignited what would be a 5-0 run for MU when she scored at the 17:47 mark to make it 8-7, and Sarah Ewin tied the game at 8-8 just over a minute later. Ronelli then scored twice in a span of 22 seconds that put the Monarchs on top, 10-8, with 9:57 on the clock.
 
Sydney Bonner, who scored five times for the Green & Gold, made it 11-8 with 8:48 to play. Averett got one final tally at the 6:42 mark to pull back within two goals (11-9), but three more goals from MU in the game's final 4:18 sealed the win.
 
Molly O'Hara made five saves in the cage for MU, and Breanne Sawall stopped 14 shots for Averett.
 
The Monarchs held a 35-18 edge in shots and won 16 of 25 draws. The Monarchs also forced 27 turnovers and picked up 35 ground balls.
 
Ronelli added three assists to her five goals to finish with seven points, and she also contributed six draw controls, five caused turnovers and six ground balls. Kaelyn Holland scored once to go with four assists, and Ewin had two goals, and assist, eight caused turnovers and 10 ground balls. The eight caused turnovers tied the MU single-game record. Monti Hendrix had a team-high nine draw controls and picked up five ground balls.
 
For Averett, Alexis Roccia scored four times, handed out one assist, caused six turnovers and picked up seven ground balls. Elizabeth Peasley scored three goals, and Xasia Lewis won five draw controls.
 
Methodist plays at N.C. Wesleyan on Wednesday beginning at 4 pm.