WALESKA, Ga. (Nov. 18, 2017) â€" In a battle of the top two teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll and two of the top teams in the NAIA, the No. 24 Milligan College women's basketball team suffered an 80-54 defeat at No. 19 Reinhardt University on Saturday evening.
 
The loss was Milligan's second straight after winning three in a row earlier this month. The Buffs dropped to 4-4 (1-2 AAC).
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Thirteen Buffs entered the scoring column but none made it to double figures. Andi Lamb led the way for Milligan with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting (3-for-3 from 3-point territory) while Mackenzie Raizor scored eight alongside eight rebounds.
 
Sarah Robinson, the reigning AAC Player of the Year, scored seven with five rebounds, and Kaely Gose scored six with four rebounds.
 
Reinhardt's side of the scorebook looked the same way with nine Eagles in the scoring column and none with more than 14. Bethany Headrick led the Eagles with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
 
REINHARDT'S EARLY RUN
Cassidy Anderson put the Buffs on top on the first possession of the game and Milligan led until midway through the first quarter. It was 9-6 in favor of Milligan until Reinhardt unleashed an 11-0 run to make it 17-9 and the Eagles led the rest of the way.
 
Milligan cut it to within one point late in the first half after Raizor made two free throws with three minutes left to make it 26-25. Raizor's free throws capped a 7-0 Milligan run but Reinhardt scored on the ensuing possession and once again built upon the lead.
 
SECOND HALF
Milligan trailed by 11 at the halftime break, 38-27, but that was the closest the Buffs ever had it in the second half. Reinhardt hit a 3-pointer on its third possession of the third quarter and Milligan never had it closer than 12 the rest of the game.
 
NEXT UP
Milligan hosts Union College on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m. in another AAC matchup at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Union (0-3, 0-1 AAC) finished eighth in the league last season and was picked to finish seventh in the league this season.