Milligan College, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2010) --- The AAC leading Milligan College Lady Buffs rallied after trailing by double-digits to take a 76-57 victory over the Virginia Intermont Lady Cobras Wednesday evening inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The victory allowed the Lady Buffs to clinch at least a share of the AAC crown, as they can win it outright with a victory over Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday.

In the first half, it looked like the Lady Cobras were going to extend their winning streak to three as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead five minutes into the contest. Virginia Intermont continued to build on their lead as they went up double digits before the midway point in the half.

The Lady Buffs fought back as they closed the gap into single digits when Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) tossed in a basket then blocked a Lady Cobra shot on the other end. That sparked a 19-7 run that saw Megan Casteel (Greeneville, Tenn.) drain a 3-pointer to tie the game at 22 with 7:24 remaining in the half. A Mainer free throw gave the Lady Buffs their first lead since the opening bucket.

Milligan made the best of the opportunity as they ran out to their first double-digit lead at 34-24 with 4:22 remaining. The Lady Buffs continued to add to their lead as they took a 41-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. After trailing by 11 at the 14:42 mark, Milligan outscored Virginia Intermont 37-13 for the rest of the opener.

As a team, Milligan was 13-of-33 (39%) from the field and 3-of-13 (23%) from behind the arc while the Lady Cobras were 10-of-23 (44%) and 1-of-4 (25%) from behind the 3-point line. The Lady Buffs forced 12 Lady Cobra turnovers in the half.

In the second half, the Lady Cobras struck back as they cut the Lady Buff lead back to nine points after five minutes. Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) found Mandela for an open shot that put Milligan back up by 11 with 15:04 remaining in the half.

After Virginia Intermont cut the deficit to 10, Mainer added a basket and senior Brit White (Chuckey, Tenn.) drained two 3-pointers to put the Lady Buffs up 65-49 with 6:06 remaining. The Lady Cobras were unable to respond after that as Milligan took control and never looked back.   

The Lady Buffs had two players with double-doubles as AAC player of the week selection Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) led the way with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Mainer added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Victoria Dailey (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched in nine points, while Brit White and Megan Casteel had eight points apiece.

“I wasn't particularly pleased with our mental effort the whole night,” Head Coach Rich Aubrey said, “but the good news was we got a little desperation about us. It was good because we needed that motivation to push ahead. We have not shown that much recently, but I think we showed that tonight.”

With the win, the Lady Buffs improved to 19-10 overall and 11-4 in the AAC, while the Lady Cobras fall to 4-24 and 2-13 in the AAC.

The Lady Buffs will wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Athens, Tenn., to take on Tennessee Wesleyan. Milligan won the previous meeting 74-61 in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.