Wednesday night was the final home game of the regular season for the Mary Baldwin women's basketball team. Wednesday's outcome earned the Fighting Squirrels another game at the PAC to start the postseason.
In a contest to determine the No. 4 seed in the East Division, Mary Baldwin erased a five-point halftime deficit with a dominant second half to defeat Methodist 73-61.
Methodist will be the No. 5 seed out of the East Division and the Monarchs will make the return trip to Staunton on Saturday afternoon to meet MBU, the No. 4 seed, in a USA South Athletic Conference first-round tournament game.
The Squirrels got off to s strong start as point guard Demet Saygili scored 12 points in the first quarter and MBU trailed by just one, 20-19 after one quarter.
The Monarchs increased the margin to five, 42-37 at the half, but the first 12 minutes of the second half was all Mary Baldwin.
The Fighting Squirrels outscored the Monarchs 26-7 in the third quarter and then added six more points to start the fourth quarter to complete a 32-7 run and take a commanding 69-49 lead with 7:57 left in the game.
MBU started the third quarter with a 12-1 run to take the lead.
Saygili opened the third quarter by converting a steal into a layup and she followed that with a 3-pointer to pull the Squirrels even. Mary Moran then added a layup for a 44-42 lead. Saygili knocked down another 3-pointer and Mya Coleman capped the run with two foul shots, making the score 49-42 with 5:35 on the third quarter clock.
Methodist trimmed the margin to four points before a 12-2 Squirrels' flurry pushed the margin to double figures. Kayla Sessoms converted a 3-point play and A'Cetta Farrait connected on a baseline jumper for a 54-45 MBU lead. After a basket by Methodist's Zytipha Jones, Sessoms worked the paint for another bucket, Saygili connected again from long range and Coleman drained a jumper, putting MBU up 61-47 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. Aniyah Tate scored for the Monarchs, but Sayfili answered with two foul shots, making the score 63-49 at the end of three quarters.
MBU continued the pull away with the first six points of the final quarter. Jalen Gathers drained a 3-pointer and Saygili added a three-point play, increasing the lead to 20 points, 69-49, with 7:57 left in the game.
Saygili turned in a huge performance with 28 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Farrait also reached double figures with 10 points.
Mary Baldwin concludes the regular season with a 14-9 overall record and an 11-7 conference mark. Methodist is now 11-11, 10-8 in the conference.
Tip-off for Saturday's first-round tournament game at the PAC is set for 2:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and $3 for students. Spectators showing a Mary Baldwin ID card will be admitted free. All spectators will be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within the past 72 hours to be admitted. Also, masking is required in the PAC.