BLUEFIELD, Va. (Dec. 12, 2015) â€" With its Appalachian Athletic Conference leading sixth victory of the conference season, the Milligan College women's basketball also won its sixth road game of 2015-16, surpassing the total number of road wins the Buffaloes reached last year. Milligan was victorious 74-63 over Bluefield College Saturday afternoon at the Dome Gymnasium.
After finishing 2014-15 with a 5-10 record away from the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, the Buffs have become one of the best road teams this year in the AAC. Milligan is 5-1 in away matchups and is a combined 7-1 in road and neutral games. Additionally, the Buffs are undefeated on the road in conference action and are one of only four teams in the league with one loss or less on the road.
Kelly Barnett led the Buffs with a game-high 18 points on four 3-pointers. Barnett also shot 50 percent both from the field (6-12) and from three (4-8), while
Sarah Robinson was next with 16 points while only missing one shot from the field (8-9).
Allison Jones and
Lindsee Price rounded out the four Buffs in double-figure scoring with 10 points apiece, while Price and Robinson both finished with a game-high eight rebounds, and Jones added six boards. The game was also the fourth consecutive double-digit performance for both Jones, a senior, and Robinson, a freshman.
With Saturday's win, Milligan, who was the top team receiving votes in the latest NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll this past week, won its third straight game and advanced its record to 12-1 overall and 6-0 in the AAC. Bluefield suffered its third straight loss in conference action and fell to 5-6 and 1-4.
Milligan trailed 9-4 four minutes into the game before going on a 10-3 run featuring 3-pointers by Barnett and
Andi Lamb, and scores from
Callie Cox and Robinson to go ahead by two. The Buffs shot over 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter (7-13, 53.8%), compared to only 30 percent (6-20) for Bluefield.
The Buffs went on to use an 18-10 second quarter to pull away from the Lady Rams and head into the locker room with an 11-point advantage (35-24). Milligan again shot at least 50 percent in the quarter (13-26, 50 percent) while Bluefield was again under 30 percent (10-34, 29.4 percent).
Milligan took a 14-point lead with 5:13 to go in the third quarter when Jones connected on her lone triple of the day to make it 45-31. Bluefield, however, responded in a huge way with 14 straight points over a two-minute span to tie the score.
Next, five straight points from
Courtney Wilson followed by two free throws from
Morgan Gose put Milligan ahead 52-45 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
Overall, Bluefield outscored Milligan by six in the third quarter (23-17) to get back within five points before the Buffs answered with a six-point advantage in the final quarter to win by the same margin they led by at the half.
The Buffs started the fourth frame with two field goals from Robinson to go up by nine before a 7-0 Lady Rams run got the margin back to within two at 56-54 with 6:47 on the clock. That was, however, the closest the game would be the rest of the way as Milligan went on an 11-0 run to open its lead back up to 13.
Barnett started the run in the middle of the fourth quarter with two field goals, one of which was her final three of the game, and also connected on two free throws with under 50 seconds left to give Milligan its largest lead of the game at 17 (73-56).
Similarly to the Buffs, four Lady Rams reached double figures in scoring as Danae Cox had 15, Maryah Mazyck had 12, and Courtney Kendrick and Monique Robson had 11.
Next up, Milligan plays two nonconference games to finish up 2015 before staring the new year at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 2, against Union College, who was a top-25 team earlier in the season and was picked first in the conference's preseason poll. The Buffs will battle the University of Pikeville on Monday, Dec. 14, and Campbellsville University on Wednesday, Dec. 30, both on the road.
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