FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  A fourth-quarter deluge of points rallied Methodist past the visiting Builders from The Apprentice School (Va.) Saturday afternoon, pushing the Monarchs to a 75-70 non-conference victory in women's basketball action at the Riddle Center.

Only once, at 39-38 in the third quarter, did Methodist own a lead until it outscored the Builders 31-18 in the final 10-minute quarter for the come-from-behind victory.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Methodist def. Apprentice, 75-70
Records: Methodist 3-9, Apprentice 2-10
Location: Riddle Center; Fayetteville, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It would be misleading to state that the Monarchs 'finally' got things together only in the fourth quarter. Though it was perhaps their best 10-minute frame of the season, Methodist's play during the first three quarters was solid, but unable to complete a rally from an early seven-point deficit.
• A sequence that buoyed the confidence of the Monarchs led to that first lead of the game, at the 6:36 mark of the third quarter. Trailing 38-30, Methodist cut into the Builders' margin first with a 3-pointer from Kadie Snipes. A defensive rebound by Tyzarea Alexander led to her trey at the other end of the court, bringing Methodist to within a bucket, at 38-36. Both teams squandered chances on ensuing possessions, but eventually a defensive rebound from Kaneya Chambers turned into a layup-and-one by Kodi Centry, pushing Methodist in front for the first time.
• Apprentice answered immediately to retake the lead, then finished off the quarter on a run to carry a 52-44 advantage into the final frame.
• Centry's quarter-opening layup trimmed the deficit and ignited the Monarchs at both ends of the floor.
• Methodist shot 54 percent (7-of-13) from the floor over the final 10 minutes, including timely 3-pointers from LeTrice Pearson and Kierra Beasley, and hounded the Builders into eight turnovers -- leading to 12 Monarch points during the rally.
• An Alexander jumper in the paint on a fast break provided Methodist with its second lead of the contest, 61-60, and a minute later -- after three lead changes and a pair of ties -- Centry hit a jumper from in close to lift the Monarchs to an advantage, at 68-66, that it would not surrender over the final two minutes.
• Answering with clutch free throws in the final 70 seconds were Pearson, Logan Lee and Alexander, each of whom converted both attempts upon visiting the foul stripe.

BOX NOTES

• Alexander, for the second consecutive game, posted a new career high in points, leading Methodist on Saturday with 17.
• Lee, with 12, and Centry and Kayla Goldsmith, each with 11 points, also reached double figures in scoring.
• Alexander paced the Monarchs off the glass, pulling down nine rebounds. Chambers was next on that list with six.
• Though Beasley and Pearson didn't register a steal on the stat sheet, their pressure defense as Apprentice tried to bring the ball up court in the fourth quarter contributed mightily to others picking up steal markers on the sheet.
• Through 23 minutes of action there were no lead changes, and in the next seven minutes there were just two. But the fourth quarter saw five lead exchanges in less than 10 minutes.

BUILDER POINTS

• Aquazia Jones and Jordan Wilson combined to score 50 of Apprentice's 70 points in the loss. Jones pocketed a game-high 28, while Wilson chimed in with 22.
• Alexis Wethington notched a double-double for the Builders, scoring 13 and finishing with a game-best 12 rebounds.
• Thirty-one points came on fast-break transitions for Apprentice.

UP NEXT

• Methodist leaps back into USA South Athletic Conference action with its next game, a 7 p.m. contest Wednesday at N.C. Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, N.C.
• Apprentice hosts University of Maine-Fort Kent at home in Newport News, Virginia, on January 13.