Milligan College, Tenn. (Feb. 22, 2011) --- The Milligan College women's basketball team survived a second half rally from Virginia Intermont to advance in the AAC tournament with a 69-58 victory on Tuesday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The Buffaloes will face Montreat College on Friday in the AAC Semifinals.

The opening minutes saw the teams play to a 4-4 tie after the first four minutes. Milligan used a 10-0 run sparked by Alisha Mainer (Flag Pond, Tenn.) and AAC Player of the week Heather Mandela (Fairfax, Va.) to pull away as they led 17-6 at the midpoint of the half. The Buffaloes defense kept the Lady Cobras contained as they maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the half. Milligan went on a 12-4 run to close the half as they took a 34-19 lead into halftime.

Virginia Intermont quickly closed the gap to start the second half as they pulled within seven points five minutes into the period. Freshman Kayla Kelly (Chattanooga, Tenn.) responded with a 3-pointer to regain a double-digit lead for the Buffaloes with 12:52 remaining in the game. VI continued to close the gap as they cut the gap to four points at the 7:11 mark.

Milligan used points from Mandela and Mainer to up by eight points with 5:30 remaining, but the Lady Cobras cut the gap again to five points. Ashlee Price (Rogersville, Tenn.) drained a 3-pointer and Mandela added a layup to give Milligan a 66-56 lead with 2:27 remaining. From that point, Milligan kept the Lady Cobras at bay to take the victory.

Mandela led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Mainer ended the game with 16 points, while Jaimee Hill (Johnson City, Tenn.) had nine points for Milligan.

The Buffaloes will face Montreat College on Friday afternoon at 5:30 p.m., in the AAC Semifinals. Montreat advanced with a 79-67 win over Reinhardt on Tuesday evening. Both the semifinals and championship game will be held at Tennessee Wesleyan.