Milligan College, Tenn. (Jan. 8, 2011) --- The Milligan College women's basketball team picked up their first Appalachian Athletic Conference victory of the season as they defeated Bluefield College 75-55 on Saturday inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

The Lady Buffs slowly opened built a 14-11 lead in the first half. They added to their advantage when they went on a 14-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Megan Casteel (Greeneville, Tenn.) and a basket from Tracy Hardiman (Maryville, Tenn.) to give Milligan the first double digit lead of the day. The Lady Rams cut the Milligan advantage to single digits, but Johneshia Good (Johnson City, Tenn.) put the Lady Buffs back up 30-19 with five minutes remaining in the half. Milligan ended the period on a 13-3 run to take a 41-22 lead into halftime.

The second half saw the Lady Buffs maintain their advantage despite Bluefield's attempts to make a late comeback. Milligan took their biggest lead of the game with 8:06 left in the game when Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) gave Milligan a 66-40 advantage.

Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) recorded 19 points and 14 rebounds, which were both season highs. Good had 13 points, while Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dorian Freeman (Augusta, Ga.) scored eight points.

As a team, the Lady Buffs were 28-of-55 (51%) from the field and 5-of-12 (42%) from behind the arc. Bluefield was 22-of-61 (36%) from the floor and 6-of-17 (35%) from the 3-point line.

“We played with so much more energy today,” Head Coach Rich Aubrey said. “Confidence affects your energy, and we have been playing without confidence. I guess you can sit around and wait for your confidence and energy to get up, but our team decided to raise the energy up and see if that helps our confidence and I think it definitely did.”

With the win, Milligan moves to 12-5 and 1-1 in AAC action.

The Lady Buffs return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 12, as they travel to Dayton, Tenn., against Bryan College. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.