Buffs lead late but fall to Cavs

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2021) – A career high in scoring from Jaycie Jenkins and career highs in scoring and rebounding from Kaylee Hendrickson were not enough as the Milligan University women's basketball team lost its regular-season finale to Montreat, 63-59, Wednesday night inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Jenkins led all scorers with a career high-tying 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 13 points in the second half. Hendrickson tallied career highs of 12 points and eight rebounds, coming up just shy of her first double-double.

A game of runs

Milligan led by as many as eight in the first half before a 10-2 Montreat run to end the first half sent both teams into the locker room tied at 26-26 at the break. In a similar fashion, Montreat then closed the third quarter on a 12-2 run to go ahead by 10 heading into the final quarter.

Milligan battled back to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter, but both leads were short lived. Malarie Tallent scored a basket near the 6:30 mark to put the Buffaloes ahead 50-49, but Montreat answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession. Four minutes later, Lily Griffith gave the Buffs the lead with a triple to make it 53-52, but Montreat again scored on the next possession, this time to start an 11-3 run which helped the Cavaliers seal the game.

Scoring numbers

Griffith followed Jenkins and matched Hendrickson with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. She added a game high three assists alongside two steals.

Jenkins' 22 points matched her career high, marking the fourth time this season she posted 22 points and the 15th straight game she scored double digits.

For Montreat, Zharia Brown also scored 22 points, going 9-for-17 from the field. Jessyka Leak tallied a game high 10 rebounds.

Up next

Milligan turns its attention to the AAC tournament, set to begin Saturday with the play-in round at host sites, followed by the quarterfinal stage next week in Kingsport. The AAC will announce the tournament seeding and bracket on Thursday.