Knights storm by Buffs in second half

GRAYSON, Ky. (Dec. 2, 2020) – Despite a big run in the first half which put the Buffs on top at the break, the Milligan University women's basketball team lost at Kentucky Christian University, 77-72, Wednesday night in an Appalachian Athletic Conference road game.

Three Buffs made it to double figures in scoring, led by Malarie Tallent, in the loss. Tallent scored 13, followed by Halie Padgett with 12 and Lily Griffith with 11. Freshman Jaycie Jenkins was held to single digits for the first time in her career, scoring eight points.

Tale of two halves

The 3-point shot helped Milligan (2-6, 2-3 AAC) surge into a big first-half lead. Hannah Wyrick connected on two field goals from the perimeter in the first five minutes of the game, and the Buffs followed with a 15-2 run to start the second quarter to go ahead 40-31 at the intermission. Padgett scored eight of Milligan's first 10 points of that run.

Kentucky Christian, however, responded with a big run in the second half to surge into the lead. It started with a 14-6 run to end the third quarter with the Knights on top 56-54, and they immediately followed with the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to expand their lead. The 24-6 run spanning roughly 10 minutes put Kentucky Christian up 66-54 with six and a half minutes left and ended up setting the stage for an exciting finish.

Trailing by 12, Milligan rallied with a 10-2 run to cut it to four with under four minutes left in the game. Milligan later trimmed KCU's lead to one possession when Jenkins connected on a free throw to make it 73-70 with 1:14 to go.

That was the closest Milligan would get, though, as KCU sealed the game with a layup on its next possession, followed by two made free throws with 10 seconds left.

By the numbers

Following the Buff trio in double figures, Teal Davis scored nine and Jenkins, Wyrick and Erin Larkin scored eight. Davis led Milligan's rebounding effort with eight while Jenkins added seven rebounds.

For Kentucky Christian (2-3, 2-1 AAC), Anna Keeton led the way with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Up next

Milligan comes home to face Brenau on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m. The game can be followed online through milliganbuffs.com.