Women’s basketball advances to AAC title game

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Feb. 28, 2020) – Halie Padgett scored a career high 26 points, and the Milligan College women's basketball team defeated Allen University 78-67 Friday at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center to advance to the Appalachian Athletic Conference championship game.

The win was Milligan's third straight after knocking off No. 13 Bryan, the tournament's top seed, in Thursday's quarterfinals. The championship is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. following the men's championship.

Early run secures Buffs' spot in Saturday's championship game

Milligan (15-18, 10-14 AAC) trailed only once and started the game on a 15-5 run, a 10-point difference which proved to be the difference in the game until one last made free throw from Hannah Wyrick with under 10 seconds left.

Lily Griffith hit a 3-pointer during the opening stretch and Malarie Tallent ended it with a 3-pointer, but the Buffs did not rely on perimeter shooting to punch their ticket to the AAC title game for the first time since 2015. Instead, post players Padgett (26 points, two rebounds) and Kaely Gose (18 points, 16 rebounds) went to work under the basket helping the Buffs score 51 points in the paint and 16 points off second chance.

Cali Weddle also gave the Buffs key minutes underneath with four points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Milligan led by as many as 13 in the first quarter, but an 11-4 run by Allen over the last four minutes of the first half helped the Yellow Jackets make it a two-point game at the half. After Allen tied the game to open the third quarter, the Buffs answered with the next six points as part of a 15-2 run which put the game away.

Allen, which entered the game winning seven of the last nine games including a 64-45 victory over Kentucky Christian in the quarterfinals, only managed to get the Milligan lead down to eight until the final 30 seconds when an and-one made it a seven-point game. Milligan then closed the game with the final four points, all in a perfect stretch at the free throw line.

In the box score

Behind Padgett and Gose, six other Buffs entered the scoring column, including Tallent who had nine, Griffith who had eight, and Emily Kiser who had seven.

Padgett's 26 points came from 9-for-14 shooting from the field and an 8-for-9 effort at the charity stripe. Her previous high was 22 points which she registered back on Feb. 5 of this season. Gose's 16 rebounds were two shy of her career high. She came up with 14 on the defensive end.

Up next

Milligan faces Union in the title game Saturday at 3 p.m. The Buffaloes lost to Union twice this season, including a 74-57 decision at home two weeks ago. They also lost to Union 72-53 on the road back in November.