January 11, 2006
Lady Monarchs drop USA South opener, 76-67 at Greensboro
Freshman Forsberg scores 17 off the bench in Methodist defeat

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The USA South Athletic Conference portion of the 2005-06 season tipped off for the Methodist Lady Monarchs on Wednesday night. However, the Lady Monarchs came up on the short end at Greensboro, dropping a 76-67 decision at Hanes Gymnasium.

The defeat drops the Lady Monarchs to 4-6 overall and 0-1 in the USA South.

The Achilles’ heel for the Lady Monarchs all game was the play of the Pride’s Staci Humphrey. The junior guard recorded a double-double with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds, connecting on 10-for-18 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. In addition, Humphrey also recorded six assists.

21 of Humphrey’s points came in the first half in which the Pride jumped out to a 16-point lead at halftime. Her 3-point basket at the 15-minute mark in the first half gave Greensboro a 14-9 lead. She then drained a jump shot, increasing the lead to 18-11 with 12 minutes remaining.

Greensboro increased the lead to 33-20 on a Humphrey 3-point basket with 6:21 remaining. A free throw by Bobbie Barnes gave the Pride a 38-22 at the 4:53 remaining.

After trailing by double-digits early in the second half, the Lady Monarchs worked their way back into the contest. Stacy Williams’ two free throws cut the Greensboro lead to 56-48 with 11 minutes remaining. Courtney Bissette then drained a 3-point basket to make the Greensboro lead 60-51 with 10:46 remaining.

Twice, Methodist trimmed the deficit to seven points. A 3-point basket by Zan Messer made the score 69-62 with 3:23 remaining, but that was as close as the Lady Monarchs could get.

Freshman forward Anne Forsberg paced Methodist with 17 points off the bench on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Bissette and Kristen Whitehurst both added nine points for Methodist. In addition to Humphrey, Sirleena Moore scored 17 for Greensboro (6-5, 1-0), while Jamie Motsinger added 10 points.

Methodist plays host to Ferrum on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Riddle Center.