Henderson, Tenn. (November 13, 2010) --- The Milligan College women's basketball team dropped a close loss to Freed-Hardeman University 80-72 on Saturday for their third road loss of the season. The Lady Lions are ranked ninth in the NAIA Women's Basketball Division I Coaches Poll.

The Lady Buffs took an early 5-4 lead off of jump shots from Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) and Jaime Hill (Johnson City, Tenn.). FHU Guard Hannah Parsley regained the lead for the Lady Lions, but sophomore guard Johneshia Good (Johnson City, Tenn.) nailed a jumper that would bring the Buffs within two points. Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) added two baskets to give Milligan the early 10-8 lead, but Milligan trailed the rest of the half as FHU led 42-33 at halftime.

Freshman guard Kayla Kelly (Chattanooga, Tenn.) scored first for the Lady Buffs in the half, but the Lady Lions would score the next nine points on 3-pointers. After a series of defensive and offensive adjustments, Milligan would tie the game at 52 after being down by 16 points, their largest deficit of the game.

The game would be tied four more times until FHU marked another 9-point rally at 62-62. The Lady Buffs were unable to recover as they fell 80-72.

Good led the way for the Lady Buffs with 21 points in the game. Defensively, Mandela recorded 11 rebounds, a game high for the Lady Buffs, while putting up 11 points offensively.

“We're a little disappointed with the outcome, but we were happy with the way we played,” head coach Rich Aubrey said. “We played very well against a quality team.”

With the loss, the Lady Buffs fall to 3-3 on the season.

For their next game, Milligan women's basketball team travels to Chattanooga, Tenn., to face Tennessee Temple University on Tuesday, Nov. 16. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.