Women’s Basketball pulls out double OT victory at Truett McConnell

CLEVELAND, Ga. (November 30, 2022) – Kristy Galea's free throw with three seconds left in double overtime was the difference in an 81-80 victory for the Milligan University women's basketball team at Truett McConnell on Wednesday evening.

The game was Milligan's second Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) game to go to overtime this season. The Buffs defeated CIU earlier in the year in a single OT. Milligan moves to 6-3, 4-1 AAC. The Bears fall to 2-6, 2-5 AAC.

In a game in which Milligan never trailed through the first three quarters, the Bears rallied to tie the game at 53, 55 and 57 in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Each time the hosts drew even the Buffs provided a response. Kaylee Hendrickson knocked down a clutch three to give the Buffs a 60-57 lead with two minutes to play. The Bears responded with a left-wing triple off the dribble in the final minute to tie the game at 60.

The final possessions of regulation proved chaotic as the Buffs turned the ball over without attempting a shot and then stole the ball back. A fastbreak opportunity materialized for Kayla Romines but her go-ahead attempt in the final 10 seconds was blocked. Milligan inbounded the ball with 8.6 second remaining and had two looks at a game winner but Lauren Longmire's spinning shot caught the front rim and Stacia Wilson's putback attempt was off the mark.

TMU took its first lead of the night by opening the overtime scoring with two free throws, but Romines responded with a right-wing three to give Milligan a 63-62 edge. The Bears missed a pair of fouls shots on their next possession and Madi Runnels converted a pair of free throws herself to put the Buffs ahead 65-62. After a Bears basket on the next trip down the floor, Longmire scored one of her own to keep Milligan ahead by three. TMU quickly brought it back to a one-point game (67-66).

Wilson scored the next basket with a bucket on the left block to push Milligan's lead to 69-66 with under 90 seconds to play. Leading by one, Longmire split a pair of free throws with 42 seconds to play to give Milligan a two-point lead (70-68). TMU tied the game at 70 with 24 seconds remaining in overtime with a turnaround jumper from the left block. Longmire attempted a layup in traffic in the final second of overtime but did not get a whistle and TMU collected the rebound and called timeout with 0.4 seconds left. The Bears' inbound pass went out of play without being touched so the Buffs had an opportunity with 0.4 seconds left to look to draw up a game-winning shot. After advancing the basketball with a timeout, Romines' long-range attempt was off the mark and the game went into a second overtime.

TMU scored first in the second OT but the Bears' leading scorer Alysee Dobbs picked up her fifth foul on the other end of the floor. Semaj Clark made a free throw and Longmire converted a layup to give Milligan a 73-72 edge. Clark added a pull-up in the lane to push Milligan's lead to 75-72 with three minutes left in the period. The Bears committed a foul going after an offensive rebound and Longmire calmly converted a pair of free throws to give Milligan a five-point lead (77-72) with two minutes remaining in the second overtime.

TMU drew back within a single possession after two free throws made it a 77-74 game with 90 seconds to play. The Buffs drained clock for the most of their next possession and Hendrickson drew a foul late in the shot clock. Her two made free throws made it a 79-74 game with 1:04 remaining. TMU quickly scored to bring it back to a three-point game with under a minute to play. After a Milligan turnover the Bears cashed in on a layup to bring the margin to one (79-78) with 16.8 seconds to go. Romines split two foul shots, making it an 80-78 ballgame. TMU drove in and scored to tie the game with 11 seconds to go. After a Milligan timeout, Galea drove the right side of the lane and was fouled with three seconds left. After missing the first free throw she sank the second and the Buffs held on to win 81-80.

Milligan began the game on a 12-0 run over the first 4:10 of action. Runnels, Galea, Wilson and Longmire all scored in the Buffs' opening salvo. Clark and Runnels connected on three-pointers to push Milligan's lead to 20-6 with under two minutes to play in the opening period and the Buffs owned an 11-point (20-9) edge at the end of the first quarter.

The Bears scored the first six points of the second quarter to narrow the margin to five (20-15) after two minutes. A 5-0 run with each point coming from the foul line put TMU within two (26-24) late in the quarter before Hendrickson sank two free throws of her own to keep Milligan ahead. The Buffs carried a 32-28 lead into halftime.

Milligan opened the third quarter with a Wilson layup and a triple from Galea to stretch the Buffs' edge to 37-28. The Bears would not let Milligan build a double-digit lead as a 9-2 run brought the score to 41-39 before Romines drained a three to stay ahead. Longmire's jumper with 10 seconds left in the period gave Milligan a 48-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Longmire had 21 points, five rebounds and three assists in a game high 42 minutes of action. Clark was the Buffs' second-leading scorer with 13 points. Wilson had 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, six blocks and three steals. Runnels finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

The contest featured eight ties and two lead changes, all in the fourth quarter or overtime. Milligan won the rebounding battle 47-41 on the evening.

Milligan hosts Union Saturday at noon.