Women’s Basketball heads into Christmas break with 63-48 win over Montreat

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (December 13, 2022) – The Milligan University women's basketball team outscored Montreat in all four quarters on route to a 63-48 victory at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening.

The Buffs head into the Christmas break with a 99-4 record and 7-2 mark in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play. Montreat, who entered as a top-five team in the AAC standings, fell to 8-4, 6-4.

The Buffs used early threes by Kristy Galea, Kayla Romines and Semaj Clark to establish an 11-3 lead through the first four and a half minutes of play. Kaylee Hendrickson's three with four minutes to play in the quarter gave the Buffs a 14-7 edge. The Buffs led by as many as nine points in the quarter but Montreat scored the last four points of the quarter to narrow the margin to 18-14 heading into the second quarter.

Both teams shot poorly in the second quarter as the Buffs converted 25 percent of their field goals yet still outscored the Cavs 11-10 to take a 29-24 lead into halftime.

Montreat scored the first six points of the third quarter to take its first lead of the evening at 30-29. Romines and Aida Castell Munoz drained threes in a 10-0 Milligan spurt that gave the Buffs a 41-32 edge with three minutes left in the third. Clark scored the final five points of the quarter for Milligan as the Buffs carried a 46-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Cavs came back six (48-42) early in the fourth quarter but Romines jumpstarted a 7-0 Milligan run to put the Buffs ahead by 13 (55-42) with just under five minutes left in regulation. The Buffs limited Montreat to 10 points in the fourth quarter and held on for the 15-point victory.

Romines knocked down four threes on her way to a game high 16 points. Clark had 10 points off the Buffs' bench. Longmire had nine points, and four steals. Stacia Wilson had 11 games and Galea had 10 boards.

The Buffs shot 42.9 percent from the field and held Montreat to 28.8 percent from the floor. The Buffs knocked down 10 threes at 35.7 percent, the sixth time the Buffs have drilled double-digit threes. Milligan's bench outscored Montreat's reserves 28-12 on the evening.

Milligan is off until a December 31 exhibition at Tusculum.