ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. Methodist women's basketball shared the wealth, in scoring, as four Monarchs reached double figures in the 66-57 USA South Athletic Conference victory over host North Carolina Wesleyan College on Friday afternoon, in Everett Gymnasium.
 
Starters Jessica Drake, Kiley Hicks and Aniyah Tate, along with Zytipha Joines off the bench, scored 10+ points in the contest. Tate also collected a game-high 14 rebounds, which is a new career-high, to give the sophomore her second career double-double.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. N.C. Wesleyan, 66-57
Records: Methodist 3-4 (3-1 USA South), N.C. Wesleyan 4-6 (2-2)
Location: Everett Gymnasium; Rocky Mount, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Racing out to a 7-2 advantage were the Battling Bishops until a jumper and a three, by Hicks and Drake respectively, tied the game at seven a piece. In the final four minutes and 39 seconds, Methodist would only make four more shots but three of those made baskets came from three-point territory to put the Monarchs up 18-17 at the end of the period.
• N.C. Wesleyan started the second by scoring the first four points of the quarter before Tate scored the first points for Methodist. After a little over three minutes of no scoring by either team, Melissa D'Oleo ended the drought with a layup to give the Monarchs a 24-23 lead.
• Methodist than outscored the Battling Bishops 6-2 in a minute and half span to make it 30-25, which was their largest lead of the first half. N.C. would get it down to a one-point difference until a made jumper from Tate pushed the score to 32-29 at the break.
• The start of the third saw the Monarchs hang onto their small advantage when three balls from Joines and Drake brought the lead to double digits, for the first time in the game. The rest of the quarter the two team exchanging buckets all the way to a 53-44 game, in favor of Methodist, heading into the fourth.
• Early in the frame, Drake and Joines scored the first six Monarch points to make it a 13-point difference, which was their largest of the day. The Battling Bishops did cut the difference down to eight, with a little over five minutes left, before Methodist used a final 6-0 run to put the game away.

MORE TO IT

• The Monarchs were on fire from behind the three-point arc in the contest. They knocked down eight of their 14 shots for a percentage of 57.1, while N.C. Wesleyan shot poorly downtown at 15.8% (3 of 19).
• Despite being out rebounded 46 to 37, the Battling Bishops scored 11 second chance points with Methodist only able to get four.

UP NEXT

• Methodist plays their final game before the holidays on Wednesday, Dec. 15, in a road non-conference game against Virginia Wesleyan University at 5 p.m.
• N.C. Wesleyan will host #9 Christopher Newport University on Wednesday in a non-conference action for their final game of 2021.