ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team resumed USA South play in a 89-59 loss at N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon.

With the result, the Fighting Squirrels fall to 5-6 on the year and 1-3 in league games. Meanwhile, the first-place Battling Bishops improve to 9-3 overall behind a perfect 4-0 mark in conference action.

Demet Saygili paced the Fighting Squirrels offense once again with 11 points and a game-high 11 assists. She also pulled down seven rebounds and recorded four steals.

Codie Heilig also finished with 11 points on four-of-six shooting from the floor and also registered four rebounds.

Brooke Anders made a trio of three-pointers to finish with nine points to go along with three boards and a pair of assists. Hannah Varner finished with seven points, while Mary Moran led the team with nine rebounds and pitched in five points to round out the starting five.

Nicole Mallon recorded seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench, while Cauy Duboise pulled down four boards and dropped six points in 10 minutes as a reserve.

NCWC got the first basket of the game before a jumper and a three from Varner pushed the Fighting Squirrels ahead 5-2 with 8:07 left in the quarter. Another basket from the Bishops and a pair of free throws from MBU set the score at 7-4 and a three from NCWC tied the contest for the second time at 7-7 with under seven minutes left in the period. Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the period with neither team able to take advantage as the Fighting Squirrels led 21-20 at the end of the first.

The Fighting Squirrels fought out to a four point advantage at 28-24 with 4:35 left in the half to force a timeout from the home team. In response, finished off the quarter with a 17-4 run across the final four and a half minutes to take a 41-32 lead into the break.

N.C. Wesleyan scored twice to start the second half and etched a 13-point lead with 8:04 on the clock before a Heilig three finally broke the Bishops' run. Again, the Bishops jumped out on a 13-0 run to extend their lead to 58-35 with 3:24 left in the third. A Moran jumper was the first field goal for MBU in nearly four minutes which eventually led to a Mallon layup to cut the deficit to 17 points but could not get any closer as the Bishops prevailed 89-59.

MBU shot 35.4 percent (23-65) from the field, compared to a 34.9 percent (30-86) clip from the Bishops. N.C. Wesleyan outrebounded MBU by a 58-46 margin.

The Fighting Squirrels are back in action tomorrow afternoon at Salem beginning at 2 pm.

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