(RV) Lady Buffs Basketball Drops Road Tilt at No. 15 Rio Grande

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – On Saturday afternoon, the (RV) Milligan women's basketball team was back in action against the No. 15-ranked RedStorm of the University of Rio Grande. After a closely contested first three quarters, the RedStorm pulled away from the Lady Buffs in the fourth quarter to deal an 86-77 loss to Milligan, pushing them to 1-3 on the young season.

The Buffs would take a 37-36 lead into halftime after two periods of play battling back from a 21-13 deficit with a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter. That gave them a one-point advantage that they would trade back-and-forth with Rio Grande for the rest of the period. Neither squad shot the ball with much efficiency in the first half, as Milligan had just a 14-of-38 mark and Rio Grande was just one shot better at 15-of-38. 

Half number two consisted of a third quarter that was evenly contested, but Rio Grande entered the fourth frame with a two-point lead at 61-59. Both squads had their best shooting percentages of the tilt in the third, shooting better than 55% from the field. The fourth was unkind to the Buffaloes, as they failed to reach the 30% mark, and scored just two of their 10 three-point tries. The RedStorm took advantage, nailing nine of their 16 tries in the quarter to cruise to the eventual 86-77 final. 

Jaycie Jenkins led the way for the Lady Buffs with 25 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Semaj Clark (7-of-15) and Jenna Hare (7-of-14) finished the contest with 20 and 15 points, respectively. Hare also added five assists in the game, while Lina Lyon dished out a quartet of dimes. 

Hare was a stat-sheet stuffer in the loss, reeling in 12 rebounds to lead the squad. Jenkins and Clark both had seven, while Lauren Longmire provided six for the contest. 

Longmire stepped up with three steals on defense, while Jenkins and Clark added two each. The game's one blocked shot from Milligan came via Jenkins, as she had at least one of all five major statistical categories. 

After a challenging stretch of games against nationally-ranked, respected opponents, Milligan will travel to Pikeville, Ky. for the start of Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play against the University of Pikeville Bears. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 13.