Greensboro, NC (02/27/02) -- Sophomore forward Jackie Hardenbergh (Oak Hill, VA/Paul VI) scored six points during a decisive 10-0 second-half run to lift host Guilford past Methodist, 54-47, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament Wednesday night in the Ragan-Brown Field House.

The win sends Guilford (25-3) into a second-round NCAA contest at Hardin-Simmons (25-1) Saturday night (03/02) in Abilene, TX, at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The tilt is a rematch of last year's second-round game, won by the Cowgirls, 106-77.

Methodist ends its season with a 17-12 record. The Monarchs were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

"We started to play up to our potential tonight and in the (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) Tournament," said Guilford coach Barb Bausch. "We knew if we did it again, we would be playing at Hardin-Simmons. This year we're quicker, faster, deeper and a more experienced team. This game helped us because that's the kind of pressure we will face (Saturday)."

The Quakers offset a season-low 26.5 percent shooting effort by forcing 28 Monarchs' turnovers that led to 28 points. Methodist turned the ball over 18 times in the second half, which resulted in 14 Guilford points.

"They did a nice job on defense - making it tough for us to get it inside while putting good pressure on the perimeter," said Methodist coach DeeDee Jarman.

"(The pressure) was like playing ourselves," said Methodist senior Jennifer Neal (Raleigh, NC/Athens Drive). "We got a taste of our own medicine tonight."

The Monarchs rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit with a 13-2 run and took a 40-37 lead on senior LaQuinta Tuttle's (Winston-Salem, NC/North Davidson) layup with 9:17 remaining. Hardenbergh answered with her career-high third three-pointer of the game to force the game's seventh and final tie at 40. She broke the deadlock with two free throws that gave Guilford a 42-40 edge with 6:39 left. Her points marked the game's 11th and final lead change. After buckets by seniors Erin Beacham (Atlanta, GA/Lovett School) and Amy Evans (New Bern, NC/New Bern), a Hardenbergh free throw finished a 10-0 Guilford run and opened a 47-40 Quakers' advantage with 4:44 left.

Methodist pulled to within three points twice in the final 3:04, the last time on senior Kelly Holland's (Kenly, NC/North Johnston) game-high fourth three-pointer with 18 seconds to play. She nearly pulled the Monarchs to within one point 13 seconds earlier, but her three-pointer rattled in and out. Evans rebounded the miss and made two free throws with 28 seconds left for a 50-44 Guilford lead.

Beacham led Guilford's scorers with 14 points and six rebounds. Hardenbergh finished with 12 markers and freshman forward Courtney Hill (Kannapolis, NC/North Rowan) added 10 points and shared game-high rebounding honors with eight.

Holland led all scorers with 18 points. Tuttle contributed eight points and eight rebounds.