January 17, 2006
Lady Monarchs make it two straight with 66-49 victory over Averett
Harris scores 20 points as Methodist evens record at 6-6

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Ashley Harris made a triumphant return to the Methodist Lady Monarch lineup on Tuesday. In turn, the sophomore guard scored 20 points as the Lady Monarchs pulled off a 66-49 USA South Athletic Conference victory over visiting Averett at the Riddle Center.

The victory improves the Lady Monarchs to 2-1 in the USA South and evens their overall record at 6-6.

Harris, making her first start since the Lady Monarchs’ return from the holiday break, connected on an impressive 8-for-10 from the field and recorded four steals in the process. She took only one 3-point shot attempt, but it proved big as Harris drained a 22-footer from the top of the key as time expired in the first half.

That gave the Lady Monarchs a 33-26 lead at the break and some needed momentum against the scrappy Cougars. Averett had opened the game with an 8-2 lead.

The Cougars trimmed the Methodist lead to two points, 37-35 with 13:57 remaining. However, Methodist answered with a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead. Lisa Jackson drained a baseline jump shot, and then Harris scored in transition to give the Lady Monarchs a 46-35 lead with 11 minutes remaining.

Averett again trimmed the deficit, this time to four points with nine minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Cougars would get. Harris scored two straight baskets, stretching the lead back to 11 points. Her lay-up at the 3:21 mark made the Methodist lead 59-45.

In addition to Harris, Jackson scored 11 points for Methodist, while Antionett Holliday and Courtney Bissette each scored nine points. Holliday also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Methodist won despite shooting only 10 percent from 3-point range.

For Averett (4-7, 0-3), CeCe Carter scored 20 points, including 15 first half points, while Taylor Poirier scored 13 points off the bench. The Cougars shot a dismal 15 percent (3-for-20) from 3-point range.

Methodist travels to Peace for a key USA South showdown on Thursday at 7 p.m.