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Kiley Hicks trying to go around her defender
Thomas Hemingway
43
Meredith MER 8-18
55
Winner Methodist MUWBK 21-5
Meredith MER
8-18
43
Final
55
Methodist MUWBK
21-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Meredith MER 13 6 11 13 43
Methodist MUWBK 10 15 16 14 55

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Michael Spratt

Methodist Fends Off Meredith in the First Round of USA South Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  In the opening round of the 2024 USA South Women's Basketball Tournament, second seeded Methodist University hosted seventh seeded Meredith College. It was quite the battle between the Monarchs and the Avenging Angels but when the clocks reached zero it was Methodist that pulled out a 55-43 victory.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Methodist def. Meredith, 55-43
Records: Methodist 21-5, Meredith 8-18
Location: March F. Riddle Center; Fayetteville, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • A couple of early fouls sent Meredith to the free throw line, where the team only made two out of four, and then a good layup gave the Avenging Angels a 4-0 lead. A mini 8-3 run, with Kiley Hicks recording six of the points, put the Monarchs in front for the first time. Meredith would outscore Methodist, 6-2, in the last 3:25 of the first quarter to take a 13-10 advantage.
  • Following a slow first period, the Monarchs flipped the offensive script and used an 11-1 run to take a seven-point lead over the Avenging Angels. Meredith was held scoreless for nearly seven minutes before a basket at the 2:16 mark ended the drought, this was also the Avenging Angels first bucket of the quarter. Back-to-back jumper by Melissa D'Oleo and Serenity Webb pushed Methodist's lead to nine but a Meredith three-pointer at the buzzer shrunk the gap to six, 25-19.
  • The Monarchs saw their advantage go up to ten points, 31-21, thanks to Aneesa Irizarry registering the first six points for her team. From that point on the two team exchanged baskets for majority of the third quarter. The last bucket of the third came from Hicks, of Methodist, to make it an 11-point difference, 41-30, heading into the final stanza.
  • Both sides continued to swap points as the fourth was getting under way until the Avenging Angels scored a quick four points to trim the deficit down to eight, 47-39. For the next two and half minutes, points came at a premium as each side had multiple scoring opportunities but could not get one into the hoop. Finally, a pair of shots from the charity stripe by Hicks followed by an Irizarry steal, which led to a Hicks layup, put the game away for the Monarchs.  
MORE TO IT
  • Tonight's tournament win was the first for Methodist since the 2013-14 season, when the Monarchs defeated then Piedmont College 77-51 in the first round.
  • Leading Methodist in scoring was Hick with a team-high 13 points. The only other Monarch to finish in double figures was Irizarry with 11.
  • Methodist mastered the art of pick pocketing as the team accumulated 14 steals with five Monarchs tallying two or more takeaways.
UP NEXT
Methodist moves on to the semifinals of the USA South tournament, which will take place on Thursday, February 22. The Monarchs will host No. 3 seed North Carolina Wesleyan University and the contest is schedule for to start at 7 p.m.
    
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