WAUNAKEE - The Monroe girls basketball team has lost a couple close games to Badger North rival Waunakee in recent years, but in 2009, the Cheesemakers came back to win 43-38.

"This is a good win for us," Monroe head coach Kevin Keen said Thursday. "They are a good ballclub."

The Cheesemakers had lost three straight games to the Warriors, last winning on Dec. 6, 2005.

Monroe trailed 21-14 at halftime and 35-28 after the third quarter.

"In the third, we had cut the lead to 28-24, but then they went on a run to stay up by seven," Keen said.

In the fourth, Monroe's guards took over, hitting jumpers and 3-pointers, while holding Waunakee to just three points in the final frame. Monroe scored the final 14 points of the game.

Gwen Sutter scored 15 points to lead Monroe - 13 in the second half, including three 3-pointers. Emily Rufenacht finished with 11 points and also hit three 3s.

The surprise of the night was that Waunakee's defensive scheme kept Jamie Armstrong and Ashley Hermanson at bay in the post most of the night. The two finished only with a combined nine points.

"Waunakee played very tough against our post players. We were fortunate that we had such great perimeter play," Keen said.

Monroe finished 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter from the charity stripe, and was 9-for-10 in the game, while committing only seven fouls.