FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Mary Baldwin University women's basketball team garnered a 62-47 victory against Methodist in the Riddle Center on Saturday afternoon.
With the result, the Fighting Squirrels improve to 12-9 on the year and 7-6 in USA South action. Meanwhile, the Monarchs fall to 3-18 overall behind a 2-10 mark in league play. The victory is the fifth-straight win for MBU against Methodist dating back to 2018.
Codie Heilig finished with a season-best 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field to lead the team offensively. She also pulled down six rebounds and added a steal in just 19 minutes off the bench.
Nicole Mallon recorded 10 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes of action, while Demet Saygili finished with a game-high and season-high of 11 assists.
Brooke Anders registered nine points and five rebounds, while Hannah Varner led the team on the boards with 11 rebounds.
For the Monarchs, Tyzarea Alexander recorded 17 points to go with 12 rebounds, while Jazanae Billings finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Monarchs got on the board first nearly two minutes into the contest on a jumper by Alexander. A free throw by Moran and a triple by Anders put the Fighting Squirrels in the lead for the first time at 4-2 with 6:40 left in the period. MBU strung together a 14-2 run over the next five minutes before a three by Billings ended the run. She hit a layup with under 10 seconds left in the first as MBU held onto an 18-9 lead after one.
Back-to-back layups by Heilig added with a free throw started the second quarter on a run for the Fighting Squirrels to go up 23-9. Another three by Billings broke up the run, but Heilig drained two more baskets to set the score at 27-14 with seven minutes remaining in the half. Methodist worked the deficit down to just seven points (34-27) with 53 seconds showing on the clock, which held to halftime.
Varner started the scoring in the second half with a three nearly two minutes into the third quarter followed by a layup by Mallon to extend the lead to 12 points. The two sides exchanged scores throughout the third quarter as MBU went to the final period with a 48-37 lead.
The fourth quarter was much like the third as the Fighting Squirrels edged the Monarchs 14-10 in the period, including eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in seven minutes. MBU held on for a 62-47 win.
As a team, MBU shot 37.5 percent (24-64) from the field compared to 25.4 percent (18-71) for MU. The Fighting Squirrels outrebounded the home team 52-47 and led by as many as 17 points over the course of the contest.
The Fighting Squirrels are idle during the week and return to action next Saturday, Feb. 8, as they travel to Meredith to complete the season series. In December, Mary Baldwin earned an 81-64 victory against the Avenging Angels. Saturday's contest is set to tip off at 2 pm.
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