MARYVILLE, TN – Behind a team high sixteen points by Syerra Troutman, the Pride women's basketball team defeated the Monarchs of Methodist University in the first round of the USA South Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Despite starting out slow, the Pride women were able to come away with at 54-43.

In the first half of play, neither team was able to get anything going as Greensboro went into the intermission period up by one at 16-15.

The second half of play proved to be a totally different story.

With the game tied at 27-27 with 14:51 to play in the second half, Greensboro was able to use two straight baskets by Troutman to pull in front of Methodist 31-27.

Later in the period, Greensboro was able to start pulling away from the Monarchs.

With 9:05 left to play in the contest, Greensboro was able to mount a 11-4 run over the next five minutes of play to take their first double digit lead of the day at 49-39.Senior Vontreece Hayes scored the first five points of the run before fellow senior Tiffani Stephen capped it off with an old fashion three point play.

As time started to tick away in the game, the Monarchs were not able to get any closer as Greensboro moved on to the semi-finals with the 53-43 win.

Tiffani Stephens and Shanita Hampton also joined Troutman in double figures in the contest. Stephens finished the day with ten points on four of six shooting while Hampton also recorded ten points.

The Pride women also continued the recent dominance on the boards. Greensboro outrebounded the Monarchs, 55-43, on the night with Hayes and Azha McNeil each pulling down eight to lead the Pride.

With the win, the Pride moves their overall record on the season to 21-4 and will advance to the semi-final round of the USA South Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The top northern seeded Pride will take on the second southern seeded Panthers of Lagrange College on the campus of Maryville College. The game is set to get underway at 5:00 PM.