DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University women's basketball team kept its winning streak alive with a 69-59 win over William Peace University on Sunday at the Grant Center.

This marked Averett's (9-5, 5-1 USA South) fourth consecutive win, putting it at the top of the USA South Conference East Division while dropping William Peace (8-6, 5-2 USA South) to the third spot behind Greensboro College (10-2, 4-1 USA South).

Rebounding was the key for the Cougars, as they out-rebounded the Pacers 59-39 on the game, including 26 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second-chance points. Junior Ravyn Johnson led the charge in that category, posting a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, just five off from the single game program record of 24. Junior Brooke Carthon was next with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Genesis Weiters grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to go along with two points and two assists. Senior Alixis Roccia was the final Cougar in double-digit scoring with 10 points, two rebounds and five assists.

Averett started off hot from the beginning, jumping out to an 8-0 lead, while William Peace's first basket didn't come until there was 4:51 left in the first quarter. The Cougars rattled off another 8-0 run to end the first with an 18-6 lead. This hot streak continued into the second quarter, as Averett outscored William Peace 16-9 in the second quarter to take a 34-15 lead at halftime.

Rebounding played a key role in Averett's strong first half, as the Cougars out-rebounded the Pacers, 31-17, leading to 14 second-chance points for Averett compared to just two from William Peace.

Averett continued its strong run into the third quarter, opening it lead up to as large as 21 points on two separate occasions before ending the quarter with a commanding 51-33 lead. As the Cougars put reserves in late in the game, the Pacers finally started to get a run going, cutting the lead to as little as seven points with 56 seconds left before Roccia sunk a 3-pointer to effectively put the game away from there.

After taking sole possession at the top of its division for the time being, Averett gets a short break before hitting the road and taking N.C. Wesleyan College on Jan. 12 at 2 p.m.