MONROE — The Cheesemakers bounced back from a home loss to Watertown Dec. 4 and snagged a 63-52 win over previously unbeaten Stoughton Dec. 8.

“We knew that Stoughton was going to try to give us that second loss,” Monroe head coach Sam Mathiason said. “We needed to respond, and I thought we did a great job — on the road — in getting that second conference win.”

The Cheesemakers (5-1, 3-1 Badger South) led just 28-23 at halftime, but found balance in the second half.

“I thought it was really a back-and-forth game in the first half. That five-point lead at halftime was our biggest lead of the half,” Mathiason said. “In the second half we got up by 10 and then just kind of kept it there.”

Sydney Hilliard had 32 points to lead the Cheesemakers, which hit five 3s in the game and went 14-for-16 from the free throw line. Megan Benzschawel had 11 points and Emily Benzschawel and Grace Tostrud each had nine. Hilliard had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Tostrud had seven rebounds.

Alex Ashworth led Stoughton (5-1, 3-1) with 12 points. 

Watertown (6-0, 3-0) is now the lone undefeated team in the conference.

The Cheesemakers get another full week of practice before a home game with Monona Grove (5-1, 2-1), which boasts one of the state’s top-scoring threats in McKenna Warnock. Warnock is committed to Iowa after having more than 50 colleges offer her scholarships. She’s averaging 30 points per game this year and is on pace to finish with over 2,000 for her career and finish in the top 20 in state history.

“It’ll be good to get another week of practice in,” Mathiason said.