KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 26, 2015) â€" The 16-point halftime lead and the fact that the Milligan College women's basketball team never trailed after the intermission were in no way indicative of the kind of victory the Buffaloes snagged Thursday evening. It took every bit of grit and determination for Milligan to walk away 67-58 upset winners over Bryan College in the quarterfinals of the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament.
 
After using the 3-point basket to extend their lead to as many as 18 late in the first half, Milligan needed free throws down the stretch to thwart a would-be comeback from second-seeded Bryan.
 
Milligan (13-17 (10-10 AAC) advanced to the semifinals of the tournament and will play Union Friday at 4 p.m. back at the MeadowView Marriott. Bryan, which was on a four-game winning streak since losing to the Buffs by one point at home on Feb. 7, was eliminated and fell to 21-8 (15-5 AAC).
 
"I think we really fought hard in both halves," Head Coach Rich Aubrey said in a postgame interview. "In the first half, the game flowed for us. Offensively, we were flowing. Obviously the game didn't flow as easily in the second half, but you have to give Bryan a lot of credit."
 
Hayley Wyrick and Allison Jones fueled an explosive first half for the Buffs, combining for 25 first-half points, but Milligan's second-half woes saw Bryan cut the 42-26 halftime lead to two, 51-49, with four minutes left. Wyrick and Jones, who had been held to one combined point over the first 16 minutes of the second half, finished by scoring 13 of Milligan's last 16 points. The Buffaloes closed the door with a 16-9 run over the last four minutes.
 
Jones made both 3-point attempts in the first half as five Buffs had at least one 3-point make, and Milligan was 6-of-11 (55%) from long range. Lindsee Price and Callie Cox added their first makes to Jones' first make as the Buffs started 3-for-3 from 3-point range. The 6-of-11 effort outmatched the 6-of-16 first-half effort in the 65-44 win over Truett-McConnell College Wednesday morning.
 
"I told our kids at halftime that (Bryan) would either come out with full court pressure or really turn up their half court pressure," Aubrey said. "And they did both. And I give them some credit for that. But I thought we fought and played tough the whole game, and I as I said, in the first half we were able to get into a really good offensive flow, and in the second half we did enough to win."
 
Bryan came out in the second half scoring the first eight points, then followed later with a couple of mini-runs of five points to close the gap to two. Jones converted a pair of free throws at the four-minute mark and hit a pivotal 3-pointer with 2:35 left that extended Milligan's lead back to six (58-52).
 
Wyrick finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists while Jones had 19 points, five rebounds and three steals. One of Jones' baskets came on an offensive putback at the first-half buzzer, completing Milligan's 24-10 run.
 
Milligan was 23-of-31 (74.2%) from the free throw line but made 7-of-8 in the last minute and a half. Of Wyrick's team high 20 points, 14 (of 17) were scored from the charity stripe.
 
Chelsey Weddle was one of the five Buffs to connect on a 3-pointer in the first half but finished with only those three points, snapping a streak of 10 games scoring in double figures. Defensively, the senior from Hampton provided Milligan with 13 rebounds (14 total), a blocked shot, two steals, and she took two charges.
 
Bryan was led in scoring by Kristin Lane who registered a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Lane was 10-of-21 from the field.
 
With a victory over Union in the semis on Friday, Milligan would advance to the conference tournament final for the second straight season. Last year, the Buffs suffered a 72-67 loss to Union in the tournament final.