Banner Elk, N.C. (Nov. 22, 2010) --- The Milligan College Lady Buffs basketball team used a second half rally to pull away and defeat NCAA Division II foe Lees McRae College 81-65 on Monday evening inside Williams Gymnasium in Banner Elk, N.C.

Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) scored Milligan's first seven points to give the Lady Buffs an early four point lead. Megan Casteel (Greeneville, Tenn.) drained two 3-pointers midway through the half to extend the Milligan advantage to eight points before a Mandela lay-up gave the Lady Buffs the first double-digit lead of the night. However, the rest of the half belonged to Lees-McRae as they quickly cut the Milligan advantage, and took a 40-33 lead into halftime.

Layups from Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) and Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) in the opening minute of the second half cut the Lady Bobcat lead to three points. The Lady Buffs regained the lead at the 16:34 mark with a Price 3-pointer. The teams swapped the lead multiple times over the next five minutes before the Lady Buffs took the lead for good when Casteel drained a 3-pointer with 11:59 remaining in the game. The Lady Buffs secured the victory with a late 12-0 run.

Mandela had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Price and Johneshia Good (Johnson City, Tenn.) added 15 and 14 points, respectively. Mainer ended the game with 12 points.

As a team, the Lady Buffs shot 26-of-57 (46%) from the floor and 10-of-26 from behind the 3-point line (39%).

The win moves Milligan to 7-3 overall.

The Lady Buffs will close out the month of November at home as they host Southern Virginia University inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.