Women’s Basketball storms back from 18 down to defeat Point 77-75 in OT

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (December 11, 2021) – The Milligan University women's basketball team stormed back from an 18-point third quarter deficit to hand previously unbeaten Point a 77-75 defeat in overtime on Saturday afternoon in the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

Highlights

Milligan concludes Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play in the fall semester with an 8-1 league mark and 8-4 record overall. Point falls to 10-1, 6-1 AAC.

Point used an 11-0 run to take a 48-34 lead with six minutes to play in the third, and pushed their lead to 18 (54-36) with three minutes to go in the quarter. Jaycie Jenkins converted a three three-point plays and another basket trim the visitor's lead to single digits (54-47) with under a minute to play in the third. Point carried a 56-47 advantage into the fourth.

Milligan scored the first three points of the quarter to make it a six-point game but Point's Marta Gimenez drilled a three out of a timeout to give the Skyhawks a 59-50 lead with seven minutes to go in regulation.

Kayla Romines connected on a right-corner three to make it 63-59 Point with two minutes to play. Following a steal by Halie Padgett, Jenkins sliced through for a layup to cut make it a two-point game (63-61) with 1:33 remaining.

Following a Point basket, Lauren Longmire knocked down a deep three with 42 seconds left, making it a 65-64 game. After a pair of Point free throws put the Skyhawks ahead 67-64 with 24 seconds left, Romines connected on her fifth three of the afternoon, well above the break, to tie the game with 18 seconds remaining.

Neither team was able to get a good look over the final 10 seconds of regulation as both teams turned the ball over and a heave from Point missed the mark.

A baseline jumper from Madi Runnels gave the Buffs' their first lead since the first quarter. Romines found Jenkins for another three-point play the next trip down the floor as Milligan led 72-67 with three-and-a-half to play in overtime. Runnels added a layup with 1:03 left in OT to give the Buffs' a 75-70 advantage. Point responded with a three to make it 75-73 with 34 seconds to play.

After Milligan split on two trips of the free throw line in the final 30 seconds, Point had an opportunity to tie or win the game in the final possession, but were off the mark on both attempts and Milligan escaped with the comeback victory.

The largest lead for either team in the first quarter was three points as Romines drained an early three to give the Buffs a 7-4 advantage and Point battled back to take a 10-7 lead with four minutes to play in the quarter. The game was tied at 10, 12, 14 and 16 over the final four minutes of the period, but Point carried a 19-16 lead into the second quarter as Gimenez banked in a three at the buzzer.

Point opened the second quarter with five-straight points to push its lead to eight (24-16) with eight minutes to play in the first half. The Skyhawk advantage hit 10 points (32-22) with three minutes to go in the half before a pair of free throws by Jenkins and another three from Romines made it 32-27 Point with two minutes to play in the half. The teams both scored two points the rest of the way as Point led 34-29 at halftime. The Skyhawks would extend their lead to 18 points before Milligan rallied all the way back for the victory.

Jenkins finished with 32 points and 10 rebounds on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and was 12-of-14 from the foul line.. Longmire had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Romines turned in a career best 16 points and connected on five-of-nine shooting from deep. Runnels scored four of her six points in overtime.

Four players scored in double-figures for the Skyhawks, who were led by Gimenez with 20.

Milligan wraps up its fall semester slate with a nonconference game at Webber International on Tuesday.