RALEIGH, N.C.  Methodist University women's basketball returned to USA South Athletic Conference action on Saturday, January 13, afternoon with a visit to Meredith College. The Averaging Angels came close to taking a home win but a late run by the Monarchs allowed them to leave Weatherspoon Gymnasium with a 70-55 victory.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. Meredith, 70-55
Records: Methodist 9-5 (6-1 USA South), Meredith 4-10 (2-6)
Location: Weatherspoon Gymnasium; Raleigh, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Scoring the first four points of the game was Meredith but on a single shot, a made three, Jessica Drake almost matched the scoreboard for Methodist. The trio of Aniyah Tate (two points), Rebecca McGaughnea (two), and Serenity Webb (three) were able to put the Monarchs in front, 11-7, by scoring seven unanswered points. A couple of small scoring spurts at the end of the first quarter by Methodist allowed them to take a 20-11 advantage.
• Freshman Arianna White recorded the first six Monarch points to begin the second quarter, to increase their lead to 13 points. Methodist was able to push its advantage to as high as 17 points following a 6-0 run by Melissa D'Oleo and McGaughnea. In the last 2:40 of the second, the Avenging Angels outscored the Monarchs 7-2 to find themselves down by 12 heading into halftime.
• For majority of the third quarter the two sides traded off both baskets & scoring runs to where Methodist still found itself up by double digits, 45-34, with under two minutes left. In that time remaining, Meredith scored seven consecutive points to make it a six-point affair heading into the fourth.
• Drake and Jillian Peterson each knocked down a triple on the first two Monarch possessions of the quarter to make the score a ten point difference once more, 53-43. With a little over four minutes left in the fourth, an Avenging Angel three-pointer trimmed Methodist's lead to just six points. Down the stretch the Monarchs caught fire and closed the game on an 11-2 run to secure their sixth league victory of the season.

MORE TO IT

• Both Tate (16 points) and McGaughnea (13) recorded ten or more points for Methodist. McGaughnea also led the team with six rebounds.
• Aneesa Irizarry and White had themselves an all-around performance in the Monarch win. Irizarry tallied nine points, four rebounds, and four assists while White finished with six points, four rebounds, and three steals.

UP NEXT
Methodist is back on the court Sunday, January 14, as the team makes the trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face the Spirits of Salem College. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 PM.