Women’s basketball routs St. Andrews

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Jan. 26, 2021) – A 29-11 run in the second quarter put the Milligan University women's basketball team up by as many as 24 in the first half, as the Buffaloes had little trouble beating St. Andrews, 86-66, Tuesday evening at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Freshman Jaycie Jenkins led the way for Milligan (7-11, 7-8 AAC) with 19 points alongside eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Junior Hannah Wyrick followed with 14 points. Sophomore Stacia Wilson tallied her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs.

"St. Andrews always makes it tough, but our main advantage was a stretch in the second half that we really pushed in transition," Head Coach Kylie Russell said. "Additionally, Jaycie and Stacia scoring double digits in the first half was a big part of the separation we created."

Big first-half runs push Buffs past Knights

Jenkins and Wilson reached double figures for scoring by the halftime break thanks to key scoring during Milligan's first-half surge. The 29-11 run started and ended with mini runs of 11-0, the latter highlighted by five points from Jenkins and four from Wilson.

Wilson capped the run with a bucket that gave Milligan a 47-23 lead with under one minute to go in the first half, and the Buffaloes took a 21-point lead into the break.

Bailey Berry connected on a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half to start an 11-2 run where Milligan expanded its lead to 30, its highest of the game.

St. Andrews battled to bring Milligan's lead under 20 in the final quarter, even to 17 on two occasions, but Malarie Tallent and Wyrick hit 3-pointers both times to put the lead back up to 20. Wyrick's last 3-pointer marked the last basket of the game for either team and helped her finish 4-for-6 from the perimeter.

Facts and figures

Behind the three aforementioned Buffs in double figures, seven other Buffs made their way into the scoring column. Erin Larkin scored nine points, Kayla Romines eight points, and Berry, Halie Padgett and Tallent each scored six.

For St. Andrews, Dominique Cooke led all scorers with 35 points on 11-for-23 shooting. She went 3-for-9 from the perimeter and 10-for-15 from the free-throw line. Harmony Davidson followed with 17 points.

The win completed the season sweep for Milligan, after the Buffaloes handed the Knights a 65-49 win at St. Andrews earlier this year. Milligan now has won 17 of the last 18 meetings between the two programs.

Up next

Milligan goes to Reinhardt on Saturday for an AAC game at 2 p.m. The Buffs will then be set to return home to Steve Lacy Fieldhouse to face Bryan on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 5 p.m.