November 22, 2005
Two straight! Lady Monarchs outlast feisty Bennett 65-52
Holliday scores 21, Harris scores 20 in Methodist victory

GREENSBORO, N.C. - When they needed the big points on Tuesday night, the Methodist Lady Monarchs looked to two players - Antionett Holliday and Ashley Harris. In return, the duo delivered as the Lady Monarchs made it two straight victories with a 65-52 non-conference victory at Bennett.

The victory improves Methodist to 2-1 overall on the season.

Holliday, a junior center, was dominant in the paint with a double-double. She scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. Harris, a sophomore wing, meanwhile used some timely penetration for key lay-ups in the second half as she scored 20 points.

Methodist never trailed in the game, but also couldn’t shake a feisty Bennett squad. The Belles’ tenacious defense forced 22 Methodist turnovers. The Lady Monarchs took a 14-point lead midway through the first half thanks to an 11-2 run. Stacy Williams’ baseline jump shot gave the Lady Monarchs a 15-6 lead with 10:43 remaining,
and then a 3-point play by Holliday stretched the advantage to 22-8 at the 6:09 mark.

The Lady Monarchs took their largest lead, 26-10 on a fast break lay-up by Williams with 4:10 remaining. However, Bennett trimmed the lead to 28-20 at halftime thanks to a 10-2 run to close out the half.

Bennett never came closer than seven points in the second half, while Methodist led by as much as 15 points. Marcia Abrams’ lay-up brought the Belles to within 34-27 with 14:39 remaining, but Methodist responded with an 8-2 run to lead by 13 points. Harris drained a jump shot with 11:54 remaining to make the Methodist lead 42-29.

The Lady Monarchs constantly worked the ball to Holliday, and her lay-up at the 9:44 mark increased the Methodist lead to 47-34. Lisa Jackson then gave Methodist its largest lead of the half, 51-36 on two free throws with 8:41 remaining. The closest Bennett would trim the lead was seven points, 54-47 on Burgundy God bee’s lay-up with 4:56 remaining.

In addition to Holliday and Harris, Williams scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Zan Messer dished out six assists. Abrams scored 19 points to pace Bennett (1-2), followed by God bee with 15 points and Tamaqua Monroe with 10 points.

Methodist plays host to the Methodist/Innkeeper Turkey Shootout this weekend. The Lady Monarchs play LaGrange on Saturday at 8 p.m., followed by Piedmont on Sunday at 4 p.m.