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Eva McRae looking to pass the ball
Victorianna Murray
48
Pfeiffer PFE 11-13
63
Winner Methodist MUWBK 17-9
Pfeiffer PFE
11-13
48
Final
63
Methodist MUWBK
17-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Pfeiffer PFE 7 22 15 4 48
Methodist MUWBK 21 16 12 14 63

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Matthew Shealy

Methodist Tops Pfeiffer in First Round of USA South Tournament

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Hosting the fifth–seeded Pfeiffer University Falcons in the first round of the USA South Tournament, the fourth–seeded Methodist women's basketball team was challenged on Tuesday night but ultimately weathered the storm, emerging with a 15–point win. The Monarchs had three players reach double–digit points on the outing.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: No. 4 Methodist def. No. 5 Pfeiffer, 63–48
Records: Methodist 17–9, Pfeiffer 11–13
Location: March F. Riddle Center; Fayetteville, North Carolina

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • It was all Methodist in the first quarter, with five different Monarchs scoring baskets on an 11–0 run to start the game. Ava Hairston momentarily stopped the bleed with a layup for Pfeiffer, but back–to–back threes by Serenity Webb and Hannah Evans put the Monarchs up 17–2 with under two minutes left in the period. Kayleen Grullon finished out the quarter with consecutive buckets to put Methodist ahead 21–7.
  • Jillian Peterson knocked down a turnaround jumper to start the second quarter, giving the home team its largest lead of the night at 16 points. Suddenly the tide turned, with Pfeiffer ramping up the intensity on defense. Struggling to break the press, Methodist turned the ball over numerous times, allowing for a 17–0 run in favor of the Falcons, which put Pfeiffer ahead for the first (and only) time all night. 11 of those points came from Hairston, who proved difficult for Methodist to slow down.
  • The Monarchs rallied back with a 13–2 run, which heavily worked through Eva McRae, who came off the bench and provided six points in the paint.
  • The Falcons were 0­–for–5 from deep in the first half, but lightning struck twice for Kenadie Hudler in the third quarter. Though Methodist led by eight at the half, the Falcons reduced their deficit by three during the third, trailing 49–44 entering the fourth quarter.
  • Peterson canned a triple to start the fourth period, and Grullon followed with a basket to extend Methodist's lead back to 10. Pfeiffer scored the next two buckets to cut the difference to six, but the Falcons would be held scoreless for the final six minutes as Methodist safely closed out the victory.
MORE TO IT
  • With a team–high four steals on the night, Melissa D'Oleo becomes the sixth Monarch all–time to amass 200 steals over the course of a career. She's the first to achieve the feat since Jackie Lyles, who has sat atop the program leaderboard since 2014 with 273 career takeaways.
  • Peterson and Aneesa Irizarry both tallied 11 points on the night, while Grullon provided 10 off the bench.
  • The Monarchs earned their way to the free–throw line better than they had in almost any other game this season, and their 14 makes at the stripe are the most in any single game this season. Irizarry, who boasted just a .491 free–throw percentage on the season entering Tuesday night, led the team at the line with nine makes on 12 attempts. It's just the third time in her career that she's made nine free throws, and the first time since her freshman season (2021–2022), when she went 9–for–14 in consecutive contests (vs. Pfeiffer on Jan. 23 and vs. Averett on Jan. 24).
UP NEXT
Methodist advances to the semifinal round of the USA South Tournament and will travel to Southern Virginia University for a 6 p.m. tipoff on Thursday. The Knights finished the regular season with a 23–2 record and a perfect 16­–0 mark in conference play.
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