Mary Baldwin advanced to the quarterfinal round of the USA South Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament with a 72-56 victory Saturday afternoon over Methodist.

The Fighting Squirrels held a 29-23 lead at the half, but were able to increase the margin to double figures in the third quarter.

MBU held a slim 35-31 cushion with 7:34 left in the third quarter before a 13-2 run increased the margin to 48-33. Demet Saygili started the run with a 3-pointer and Hannah Varner followed with a layup to make the score 40-31. Jalen Gathers drove the lane for a bucket to push the lead to 11 before a bucket by Methodist's Aneesa Irazarry pulled the Monarchs to within nine 42-33. A'Cetta Farrait knocked down a jumper and Saygili added two buckets, giving MBU a 15-point lead with 4:15 left in the third quarter.. The Squirrels led by 10 points, 51-41, entering the final quarter.

The Monarchs made a run at the Squirrels in the final quarter, cutting the margin to seven, 58-51, with 4:50 left in the game. Mary Moran then responded with two jumpers from the baseline and Saygili added a 3-pointer to push the margin back to 14 points, 65-51, with 3:22 left.

Moran turned in one of her best performances of the season as she scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting. She just missed a double-dobule, finishing with nine rebounds. Gathers recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. After going scoreless in the first half, Saygili poured in 14 points in the final two quarters. She also recorded six assists.

Mary Baldwin improves to 15-9 on the season and advances to play Southern Virginia, the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening.