MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Jan. 30, 2016) â€" After trailing by as many as 15 in the third quarter, a 3-pointer from Kelly Barnett put the Buffaloes within two, but they were unable to overcome the deficit as the No. 21 Milligan College women's basketball team fell to the Truett-McConnell Lady Bears 62-50 Saturday afternoon at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Milligan fell to 12-2 in the AAC (18-5 overall) as they received their first home loss on the season and their second AAC loss in the month of January. Truett-McConnell improved to 4-9 in the AAC (11-11 overall) as they received their fourth straight win.

With a 3-pointer and an and-one late in the third quarter, senior Allison Jones took a charge and sparked a comeback in an attempt to close the gap.

Jones's shooting was followed by two 3-pointers from sophomore Morgan Gose and streaky free throw shooting from freshman Sarah Robinson and sophomore Courtney Wilson. Robinson knocked down 4-of-5 free throws in the fourth quarter and Wilson knocked down 3-of-4 to put the Buffs within three, setting up Barnett's triple to make the score 52-50 after two buckets by the Lady Bears.

The basket came with 3:26 left in the game, and was the final points scored by the Buffs, who allowed Truett to end the game on a 10-0 run, five of which were free throws in the final minute.

Despite their efforts to come back, the Buffs had a sloppy start as they recorded a total of nine turnovers in the first half, and only forced five. But Milligan was able to force Truett into committing 12 turnovers in the second half, eight of which were in the fourth quarter.

This marked the fourth straight game the Buffs trailed at the half, and third game out of the last four they trailed by three points. This was also the first time in four tries that the Buffs failed to sweep AAC opponents on the season.

Milligan also suffered its first loss after moving up from the top-25 coaches' poll three weeks ago.

Milligan was led in scoring by Jones with 17, marking her seventh straight game of scoring 16 points or more, followed by Barnett with nine. Robinson was held scoreless through three quarters, but recorded four clutch free throws in the fourth and also had an and-one with four minutes left which made it a three-point game. Jones also led the Buffs in rebounds with seven and senior Callie Cox led the team in assists with five, tying her career high.

Truett-McConnell was led in scoring by Rhande Haskett with game highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Ashley Roby scored 16 points and had nine rebounds.

Next up, Milligan remains at home on Wednesday, Feb. 3, as the Buffs host the Lady Rams of Bluefield College at 5:30 p.m.