January 31, 2007
Methodist Uses Strong Start to Defeat Greensboro
Antionett Holliday registers her third consecutive double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds

FAYETTEVILLE, NC- The Lady Monarchs led throughout the game and held off a strong Greensboro push in the final minutes to preserve the win.  Methodist took an early lead and led by as many as twenty in the first half before they went on to win 73-70.  Methodist moves to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in the USA South while Greensboro stands at 12-6 this season and 6-2 in the conference.

Methodist played a strong first half jumping out to an early 15-4 lead in the first six minutes of play.  Greensboro finished the first half 4-for-24 for 16.7 percent while the Monarchs were 17-for-34.  The Pride stayed in the game due to their free throw shooting where they shot 11-for-14 from behind the line.  Senior Antionett Holliday dominated the boards with 11 rebounds in fourteen minutes of the first half.  Greensboro's sharp shooter Staci Humphrey was held to just five points in the half.  The Monarchs went into the locker room leading 39-19.

The Pride came out in the second half cutting the lead to 11 with 16:19 remaining in the half.  Methodist rebuilt their lead behind sophomore Amanda Underwood's three-pointer to take the 53-34 lead.  The Pride responded with a 17-4 run to cut the lead to six with six and a half minutes remaining.  With 2:11 remaining Greensboro's Jamie Motsinger hit a three-pointer to move within one point, but Methodist's Courtney Bissette responded with a three at the other end to move back up to four.  Both teams exchanged baskets before Humphrey closed the gap to one again with 49 seconds remaining.  The Pride fouled junior Ashley Harris who hit both free throws in a one-and-one situation to give the Monarchs a three point lead with just 48 seconds on the clock.  Humphrey hit another three-pointer to tie the game with 36 seconds left.  Methodist called the timeout and set up their offense to use as much of the clock as possible before Holliday scored on the put-back to go up by two.  Greensboro fouled with three tenths of a second on the clock and sophomore Zan Messer hit the first free throw to give Methodist the 73-70 win.

Five players scored in double figures for the Monarchs led by senior Stacy Williams with 18 points.  Holliday finished with 14 points and dominated the boards with a career-high 18 rebounds.  Harris finished with 12 points while Underwood had 11 and Bissette scored 10 points.

With the win, Methodist knocked Greensboro out of their tie for first place with Ferrum.  The Lady Monarchs will host the first place Ferrum Panthers Saturday at 2 pm.

Box Score