Milligan College, Tenn. (Feb. 11, 2010) --- The Milligan Lady Buffs took care of the- Lady Rams of Bluefield a day later than scheduled as Milligan took the 74-69 victory at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. The contest was postponed due to travel issues that Bluefield suffered on Wednesday, and the victory helped the Lady Buffs hold on to their slim lead in the tight AAC conference race.

The game started with the Lady Buffs' Samantha Blevins (Spruce Pine, N.C.) grabbed six of the first eight points as Milligan raced out to a 8-0 lead five minutes into the contest. Bluefield began to chip away at the lead as they would close the gap to two with eight minutes remaining in the half. Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) added a couple of baskets to for the Lady Buffs as they pushed their lead back to six points.

The Lady Rams, however, closed the gap as they managed to tie the contest and take their first lead of the night. Blevins gave the Lady Buffs the lead with 52 seconds on the scoreboard, and Mainer extended it to three points at the break with Milligan leading 37-34.

Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) led the way quietly for the Lady Buffs in the half as she recorded 12 points and seven rebounds. Blevins ended the half with 10 points, while Mainer tossed in seven points for the period.

As a team, Milligan was 14-of-30 (47%) from the field and 2-of-6 (34%) from the 3-point line, while the Lady Rams were 16-of-34 (47%) from the field and 1-of-6 (17%) from the arc.

The opening portion of the second half saw both teams trade shots as Milligan maintained a lead over Bluefield for the first five minutes. Bluefield got their second lead of the night that they pushed out to four points with 13:52 remaining. Milligan fought back to tie the game at 49 when former Lady Hilltopper Jamiee Hill (Johnson City, Tenn.) gave the Lady Buffs the lead with a steal and a layup and plus one with 11:11 remaining in the contest. That play turned the momentum as the Lady Rams closed the gap to one twice, but couldn't convert as Milligan hung on for the AAC victory.

Mandela led the way with her 16th double-double on the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Blevins ended the game with 16 points, six assists and six rebounds, while Mainer had 11 points and two steals. Hill and Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) tossed in 10 and seven points respectively.

“I was really pleased with the victory,” Head Coach Rich Aubrey said. “We had a lot of key contributions, and I think it was a really good team win. I am just really pleased with our team effort, and Bluefield is an excellent team. It was big for us to be able to come up with the win.”

As a team, Milligan was 25-of-58 (43%) from the field and 4-of-14 (29%) from the arc, while the Lady Rams were 28-of-67 (42%) from the field and 5-of-15 (33%) from the 3-point line.

The Lady Rams were led by Megan Randall's 20 points and De'Arra Darling's 10 points.

With the victory, Milligan improves to 17-10 and a league best 9-4 in the AAC, while the Lady Rams move to 8-6 in conference play and 16-8 overall.

The Buffs return to action on Saturday night as they host AAC newcomer Reinhardt. The Lady Buffs took the first meeting between the two schools 65-55 earlier in the season, and look to have the same success inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.