Women’s Basketball rolls into AAC semifinals with 66-44 win over TMU

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (February 24, 2022) – The Milligan University women's basketball team punched its ticket to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament semifinals with a 66-44 victory over seventh-seeded Truett McConnell at the MeadowView Convention Center in Kingsport on Thursday evening.

Milligan, the No. 2 seed, moves to 24-7 on the year while Truett McConnell ends its season at 18-13.

Milligan owned an early four-point edge after the first four-plus minutes of action, but Truett McConnell narrowed the margin to one (10-9) with 3:30 to play in the period. The Buffs scored the next five points with three points from Lauren Longmire and a lay-in by Madi Runnels gave Milligan a 15-9 advantage with two minutes to go in the quarter. TMU responded with a 6-0 run before Halie Padgett scored a second chance basket in the final seconds to close the quarter with a 17-15 edge.

A quick five-point run with three points by Jaycie Jenkins and a layup by Longmire pushed the Buffs' advantage to seven (24-17) with 5:54 to play in the half. Padgett scored the final three baskets of the half as Milligan went into the halftime break up 34-21 on an 8-0 run.

Jenkins scored five-straight points to build to a 41-23 edge with six minutes to play in the third. Kaylee Hendrickson canned back-to-back three pointers to lead 47-30 with four minutes left in the period. The Buffs scored the final eight points of the quarter with Padgett accounting for six of the points.

Milligan led by double-digits the entire fourth quarter and came away with a 66-44 victory. The Buffs outscored TMU 38-16 in the second and third quarters and played the Bears even (28-28) in the first and fourth quarters.

Jenkins and Padgett both finished with 20 points. Padgett had 11 rebounds for a double-double and Jenkins had nine boards and was one of five players that had three assists. Longmire scored 10 points and had four rebounds and three assists. Hendrickson knocked down a pair of threes on her way to eight points and had three assists.

The Buffs owned a plus-21 edge on the glass (58-37) and had 17 assists on 26 made baskets.

Milligan advances to face the winner of No. 3 Point and No. 6 Kentucky Christian tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. in the MeadowView Convention Center.