STAUNTON, Va. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team picked up its third straight win in a 57-33 victory against Methodist in USA South action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Fighting Squirrels improve to 8-6 on the year and 3-3 in league play, while the Monarchs fall to 2-12 overall with a 1-5 mark in conference action. MBU also earns its fourth-straight victory against the Green & Gold dating back to the 2017-18 season.
Demet Saygili led all scorers with 16 points. She also pulled down six rebounds (four offensive), recorded four assists and six steals.
After registering a season-high 16 points and 10 boards on Wednesday night, Nicole Mallon set a new career-best with 16 rebounds to go along with eight points and two blocks.
Hannah Varner hit a trio of three-pointers to finished with 13 points, four rebounds and an assist. Meanwhile, Mary Moran and Bryonna Woofter each finished with six points.
For the Monarchs, Tyzarea Alexander led the way with nine points and 13 rebounds (six offensive), while Kadie Snipes finished with seven points and four rebounds.
The Monarchs got on the board first on a three-pointer by Kaitlin Kendrick before Varner matched with one of her own, 3-3. A free throw from Moran followed by a Saygili three and a layup by Moran pushed the lead to six points with 7:05 on the clock. Snipes and Keltsy Hardee each hit a jumper to cut the lead to two points before a layup from Woofter pushed the score to 11-7 with 3:30 left in the period. A trey from Snipes cut the deficit to one point with three minutes left in the first quarter, which held true for the remainder of the quarter.
In the second quarter, the Fighting Squirrels held the visitors to just six points. The Monarchs got four of those in the first five minutes of the quarter and trailed 15-13 with 5:05 on the clock and hit a free throw to take the score within one. A three from Brooke Anders spurred a quick 7-2 run to end the half capped by a Varner jumper as MBU led 22-16 at the break.
Once again, the Monarchs tallied just six points in the third quarter. MBU recorded the first six points of the second half to go up 28-16 to force an MU timeout. Destiny Hardin completed a three-point play after the timeout to end the run, but Mallon hit a pair of free throws and a layup from Varner set the score at 32-19 with 5:48 left in the third quarter. Another 7-2 run from the home side ended the period with a 41-22 lead.
Back-to-back three from Saygili and Varner opened the final quarter followed by a free throw from Moran made the score 48-22. The Monarchs worked the deficit down to 21 points after a free throw from Alexander with just under two minutes left (54-33) but that was as close as MU could get as the Fighting Squirrels pushed on to a 57-33 victory.
MBU shot 31.8 percent (21-66) from the floor and hit on 25.9 percent of three-pointers, while the Monarchs hit just 22.0 percent (11-50) of their field goals. Although, Methodist outrebounded MBU 47-42. The Fighting Squirrels took advantage of 25 caused turnovers compared to just 12 by MU.
MBU returns to action tomorrow, Jan. 12, in USA South action against Greensboro in the PAC at 2 pm.
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