February 9, 2006
Lady Monarchs fall to Peace 63-56 in battle for third in USA South
Underwood scores career-high 14 points in Methodist defeat

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Methodist Lady Monarchs had an opportunity to take control of third place in the USA South Athletic Conference with a victory in Thursday’s showdown against visiting Peace. However, the visiting Pacers rallied strong late in the second half and pulled out a 63-56 victory over Methodist at the Riddle Center.

The defeat ends a two-game winning streak for Methodist (11-10, 6-5).

After an ugly first half in which Peace led by three points at halftime, Methodist twice trimmed the Pacer lead to a point early in the second half. After Peace stretched the lead to nine points, 36-27, Methodist trimmed the deficit to four points, 38-34 on Amanda Underwood’s 3-point basket at the 10:57 mark.

The intensity increased as Methodist cut the lead to three on three occasions. Underwood converted a 3-point play, and then Stacy William converted two lay-ups to make the Pacer lead 46-43 with 6:17 remaining. Over the next five minutes, however, Peace took control with a 14-3 run.

Lindy Cartwright scored twice inside for Peace, and then Saunders converted a jump shot in the lane. Saunders’ two free throws at the 1:42 mark increased the Pacer lead to 60-46.

Methodist made one final charge. Kristen Whitehurst started the rally with two straight lay-ups, followed by two long 3-point baskets by Underwood. That cut the Peace lead to 62-56, but that was as close as Methodist would get.

Underwood, a freshman guard, scored a career-high 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Whitehurst and Antionett Holliday each scored 12 points, and Williams added 10 points for the Lady Monarchs.

For Peace (13-8, 7-4), Saunders scored 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. Cartwright and Amanda Cross each added eight points, and Brittany Lynn dished out seven assists. A key difference was at the free throw line, where Peace had 18 free attempts to only six for Methodist.

Methodist goes out of the USA South on Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest at Piedmont.