Monarchs down Bishop women on Senior Night, 63-45

Rocky Mount, NC - North Carolina Wesleyan women's basketball team was unable to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit on Monday night, falling to USA South-leading Methodist University by a 63-45 score in Everett Gymnasium.  The Monarchs improve to 17-6 overall, 13-3 in league play, while the Bishops drop to 7-15 on the season, 4-12 in conference action. Prior to the game, head coach John Brackett recognized seniors Cheyenne Hall and Shawnte Dickens (all pictured).

Neither team performed particularly well on the offensive end of the court in the first half as Methodist shot 35 percent to the Bishops' 27. Thanks to 10 second chance points, however, the Monarchs were able to take a 29-20 lead into the break.

Methodist opened the second half with a 14-5 run to go up 18, and the Bishops would not recover.  The Monarchs, in fact, led by as many as 22 on one occasion.

MU's Chelsale Hester led all scorers with 14 points, while Ashley Harris chipped in 11.  Zan Messer dished out a game-high five assists.

For Wesleyan, Essence Chambers and Hall each netted 10 points.  Hall also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and tallied three blocks in the final home game of her career.

The Monarchs out-rebounded the Bishops 50-36 on the night and finished with 20 second chance points, which proved to be the difference in the game.

The Bishops return to action on Friday at Averett University.  Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. in Danville.