FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Methodist University women's basketball played host to Brevard College on Saturday, January 6, in a USA South Athletic Conference bout. The Monarchs earned a solid 72-60 win over the Tornadoes, who were projected to finish second in the league, to improve to 5-1 in the USA South.
JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. Brevard, 72-60
Records: Methodist 8-4 (5-1 USA South), Brevard 8-3 (4-2)
Location: March F. Riddle Center; Fayetteville, North Carolina
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Methodist's offense was on fire at the start of the contest as the team made six of its first seven shots to jump out to a 13-0 lead, with Rebecca McGaughnea registering six points. With just a little over two minutes left in the first quarter, Jillian Peterson recorded the last five points of a 9-0 Monarch run to push their advantage to 20 points, 24-4.
- Jessica Drake kept the scoring going for Methodist by knocking down a pair of three-pointers to give the Monarchs their largest lead of the afternoon, 32-6. For the remaining six minutes in the second quarter Brevard was able to outscore Methodist 11-8 but still went into halftime down 40-17.
- Following the intermission, the Tornadoes came out strong by nailing three triples in a row to spark a 13-2 run. In hopes to get the Monarchs rolling again, Melissa D'Oleo made her own three-pointer but Brevard came right back down and splashed its fourth three of the quarter. The Tornadoes kept chipping away and eventually got the deficit down to just five points, 45-40, but in the last four minutes of the third Methodist outscored Brevard 9-2 to make it a double digit lead once more, 54-42, heading into the fourth.
- It was a game of runs to decide a winner in the final quarter. First the trio of McGaughnea, La'Kayia Hunt, and Kiley Hicks contributed two points each to add to the Monarchs total score. Then the Tornadoes went on a 12-0 run to make it a five-point affair once more, 59-54. Despite how close Brevard got to the lead, a three by Drake capped off a 7-0 run for Methodist to put the game away.
MORE TO IT
- Drake (17), McGaughnea (14; career-high), Hicks (11), and Aniyah Tate were the four Monarch scorers to eclipse 10+ points.
- Dropping the Methodist dimes was Aneesa Irizarry with a career-high eight assists. She currently leads the USA South with 49 assists this season, averaging 4.1 per game.
- This was the Monarchs first victory over Brevard since November of 2019, when they defeated the Tornadoes 61-47 on the road.
UP NEXT
Methodist now begins a three-game road trip starting on Tuesday, January 9, with a visit to Johnson & Wales University of Charlotte. The opening tip is scheduled for 6 PM.