The Pride women's basketball team fell to Methodist 61-49 in a USA South showdown on Wednesday night.  The loss is the fifth in a row for Greensboro, dropping its record to 6-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.

Both teams began the game slow with the Monarchs holding an 8-2 lead with 13:39 showing on the clock.  A layup by Bianca Richburg at the 13:23 mark would give The Pride their first field goal of the game and first points since the opening 12 seconds.

Methodist would respond with five straight points to extend the margin to 13-4.  Greensboro narrowed the deficit to 16-12 before back-to-back Monarch three-pointers pushed the gap to 22-12 with 4:35 to go in the first half.

The Pride would briefly pull to within six points but could not hold off Methodist down the stretch, as the Monarchs went into the break leading 29-18.

Greensboro fought back in the early minutes of the second half, trimming the margin to 31-24.  Methodist had an answer again, this time running off ten unanswered points to grab a commanding 41-24 advantage.

The Pride made one final push, coming as close as 49-42 with 7:25 remaining until the Monarchs pulled away for the victory.

Richburg recorded another stellar performance with 18 points and 13 rebounds - her 11th straight double-double. She also filled the stat sheet in other areas, adding three steals, three assists, and two blocked shots. Chevena Pickard contributed 11 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Greensboro was out shot from the field 32%-28% and connected on only 22% (4-18) of its three point opportunities compared to 45% (10-22) for Methodist.  The Monarchs also held a 48-43 advantage on the boards.

The Pride will look to snap their losing skid on January 19 at William Peace.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.