MILLIGAN, Tenn. — On Monday night, Milligan University's women's basketball team played host to the squad that they entered play in a virtual tie with atop the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), the Reinhardt University (Ga.) Eagles, on Smith-Harris Court inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. Milligan used a balanced attack to outpace the Eagles en route to a 77-65 victory, snatching the top spot in the AAC.

Milligan began the first frame with an efficient 4-of-5 start from the field, building a lead as large as six at 12-6 with 6:26 left in the period. The Eagles battled back with four straight points, but were unable to knot the score, as the Buffaloes responded by going on a 8-1 scoring run. They took a 20-11 lead with 1:48 remaining. Reinhardt scored five of the last seven to cut their deficit to 22-16, as both squads made seven field goals in the quarter. Milligan shot 50% from the field, while RU made just 41.2% of their shots. 

Quarter number two began at a frantic pace, with the two sides going back-and-forth with very little success. Only nine combined points were scored in the opening 4:03 of the period. The Buffaloes extended their six point lead at the beginning of the frame to a seven-point advantage at 27-20 with 4:50 left in the half. Milligan continued to make their presence known to end things in the first half. They put together a 13-5 run over the last 5:57 of gameplay in the period. Reinhardt could not get the figurative lid off their basket, making only 4-of-17 from the field, including 0-of-6 from distance. The Lady Buffs went 6-of-11 and sunk all four of their free-throw attempts to build a 40-26 halftime advantage.

It was a slow start for both offenses in the third, as they traded one bucket each over the first 3:10 of the period. The floodgates began to open a bit from there, with the Buffaloes holding a 6-4 edge over the next 2:35. With 4:15 left in the quarter, Reinhardt battled back cutting the MU lead to as few as eight points at 50-42 with 2:01 remaining, but the Buffaloes ended the period by scoring five of the final seven points to lead 55-44 with 10 minutes to play. The Eagles held an 18-15 lead over the course of the quarter, while keeping shooting the ball at 7-of-15. That outpaced Milligan's 5-of-14 mark.

Reinhardt stormed into the fourth frame, by cutting the Milligan lead down to six points at 60-54 with 7:39 to go, but the Lady Buffs came forth with a response, notching four in a row to extend the lead back to 10 with 6:06 left. Milligan stretched that edge to 15 points at the 4:11 mark, but quickly coughed up a three-point jumper to the Eagles to make it 70-58 with just under four minutes to play. The visitors could not claw back from there, however, as the Buffaloes closed out the contest with a 77-65 win to take sole possession of first place in the AAC. The Buffs put together a 9-of-15 period in the fourth to close out the tilt, while Reinhardt made 8-of-18. 

Naomi Atchley was the offensive catalyst for the Buffs, showing great touch in the low post. She scored 17 points on 5-of-9 from the field, including one make from beyond the arc. She also hit all six of her free throws. Semaj Clark and Lina Lyon combined evenly for 22 points on a cumulative 9-of-16 night from the field. Makenzie Bremer also put up double-digit points, scoring 10 on 3-of-6 shooting.

Clark led the way as a distributor, passing out five assists in the win. Kenzie Campbell followed her with three, while the trio of Bremer, Lyon and Atchley all racked up two. McKenna Myers, Caroline Krueger, Callie Reeder and Lexi Ervin rounded out the final four dimes. 

Clark was all over the glass on the battle, hailing in a game-high 13 backboards. All 13 came on the defensive end of the floor. Lyon tracked down six rebounds, Campbell snatched five and Reeder tallied four. Both Bremer and Atchley snagged three and Myers controlled two. Ervin and Cora Browning both had one rebound, as well.

It was Clark, Myers and Krueger who teamed up to tally the three steals in the contest for the Buffaloes. Clark also rejected a shot, as did Reeder.

The win was of paramount importance for the Lady Buffs (17-7, 16-1 AAC), as they now hold sole possession of the conference lead. They enter their final two games of the AAC slate as the only conference team with just one loss on the campaign. Their next tilt is this Thursday, Feb. 19 at Bluefield University at 5:30 p.m.