Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 22, 2011) --- The Milligan College women's basketball team held on in the final minutes to pick up a 80-76 AAC victory over the Lady Cavaliers of Montreat College on Saturday inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

The Lady Buffs opened the game fast with the Lady Buffs holding an 11-6 lead in the first five minutes. Montreat quickly closed the gap and the game became a see-saw battle throughout most of the remaining fifteen minutes, with the score at halftime standing 37-34 in favor of the Lady Cavaliers.

Johneshia Good (Johnson City, Tenn.) led the Lady Buffs in the first half with ten points with Dorian Freeman (Augusta, Ga.) scoring seven.

In the second half, Milligan stormed back into the game tying it at 41 with four minutes off the clock. The Lady Buffs seized the momentum and never trailed again, pushing the lead to ten points, 72-62, with 4:47 left in the game. Montreat launched a comeback, cutting the lead to two but the Buffs earned the hard fought victory with consistent play from the free throw line.

Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) recorded her twelfth double-double of the season, recording 22 points and 13 rebounds with 16 points and eight rebounds coming in the second half. With her last free throw to end the scoring, Mandela scored her 2,000th point as a Lady Buff.

The Lady Buffs had four players in double figures lead by Mandela's 22. Good scored 14 for the game, Kayla Kelly (Chattanooga, Tenn.) scored 11 points and Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) had 10 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

As a team, the Lady Buffs were 27-of-58 (46%) from the floor and 8-of-17 (47%) from behind the 3-point line. The Lady Cavaliers were 29-of-72 (40%) from the field and 5-of-18 (27%) from behind the arc.

With the win, the Lady Buffs move to 16-6 overall and 4-2 in the AAC.

Milligan returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 26, when they travel to Waleksa, Ga., to take on Reinhardt University. Game starts at 5:30 p.m.