KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The No. 1 seeded (RV) Milligan University's women's basketball team opened Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament play against No. 9 Montreat College. The AAC Tournament is hosted at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. and will conclude Saturday, Feb. 28 with the championship game. The Buffs will need to win three straight games to capture the title. They accomplished win number one of the three-game quest by taking control of the game early and cruising to a 70-50 victory over No. 9 Montreat.

Milligan started the contest by converting on their first three field goal attempts and eventually scoring the game's first 11 points. Makenzie Bremer scored a layup at the rim to cap the 11-0 run. Montreat responded by scoring nine of the next twelve points to bring them within five points at 14-9 with 3:23 left in the quarter. That is when the Buffs got scorching hot. They scored eleven points in the final 3:23, opening a commanding 25-9 lead heading into the second quarter. Milligan's twenty-five points in the quarter came 10-of-22 (45.5%) shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-6 mark from beyond the three-point line. Meanwhile, the Buffs' defense suffocated the Cavaliers offense, limiting them to nine points and lackluster 3-of-18 (16.7%) shooting.

The second was much more evenly matched with the Buffs' offense slowing down a bit. Semaj Clark opened the scoring with a layup and Kenzie Campbell followed with a layup. Then, Bremer nailed a triple to cap a quick 7-0 run, extending Milligan's lead to 23 at 32-9 less than two minutes into the quarter. At the five minute mark, the Cavaliers found some answers offensively and trimmed the deficit down to 14 points and slimmed it even further at the 3:11 mark when they trailed by 11 at 34-23. However, Milligan would shut down Montreat's offense in the final 3:11. In that time span, Milligan regained control and extended their lead to 17 at 40-23 heading to the halftime break. In the quarter, MU tacked on 15 points on 6-of-16 (37.5%) shooting from the floor, while MC added 14 points on four more shots, 6-of-20 (33.3%) shooting.

Milligan would open a lead that proved to be insurmountable during the third quarter. The Montreat offense struggled once again to get things going, starting the stanza scoreless in the first 5:08. During that time, The Buffs were able to score with efficiency and dictate the outcome of the game by ballooning their lead to 26 at 51-25. Milligan continued to score the ball to end the quarter and took a 61-38 lead into the final quarter. The Buffs added 21 points despite only taking 10 field goal attempts, converting on eight of them, while the Cavaliers scored 15 points on 6-of-19 (31.6%) shooting in the quarter.

With a comfortable margin, the Buffs were able to control the pace of the game and not let the Cavaliers back in the door in the fourth quarter. With 3:32 to play, Bremer made a layup to give Milligan a 22 point advantage, and they coasted the rest of the way to the finish line eventually capturing a 70-50 victory moving them on to the semifinal round.

Clark led all scorers in the contest with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the floor and she made 50% of her four shots from three. Bremer was the only other Milligan scorer to reach double figures with 11 points on eight shots. Nine total Buffs recorded points on the day, as scoring the ball was done in a group effort.

A total of 18 assists were recorded overall by the squad, with Clark leading the way by dishing out seven. Campbell and Lina Lyon each shared the sugar four times. Lexi Ervin had two dimes and McKenna Myers rounded out the distributors with one, respectively.

Both Clark and Myers hauled in eight boards to lead the squad, while Naomi Atchley was right behind them, grabbing seven. The trio of Bremer, Lyon and Callie Reeder each came down with three and Campbell reeled in one to reach the team total of 33.

It was Bremer who led the team in steals with two, while Clark, Lyon, Cora Browning and Atchley had one theft. Reeder sent two shots back, and Clark and Atchley both had a rejection in the win.

With a spot in the semi-final game clinched, top-seeded Milligan (21-7, 19-1 AAC) now awaits the winner of the No. 4 Pikeville and No. 5 Tennessee Wesleyan game. The Buffs could potentially be looking for revenge, as Pikeville handed them their lone blemish on their otherwise perfect AAC record. Tip-off will be at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. and is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27.