By A. Brooke Whitley
MONTREAT COLLEGE, N.C. – Against a long-time rival, the Milligan College women’s basketball team lost the last game on Saturday to the Cavaliers. The scoreboard in McAlister Gymnasium at Montreat College read 84-75.
“We were locked into fourth place before the game, so it did not affect our seed,” said Milligan head coach Rich Aubrey.
Chelsey Weddle put up the first three points of the game within the first minute. Milligan played aggressively in the first half and was up by 11 points, with the score 43-32.
“We have to take the good things we did in the first half Saturday and capitalize on those and learn from the mistakes we made in the second half,” said Coach Aubrey.
The Cavalier’s offense came back strong in the second half, resulting in three ties. Montreat called timeout with 3:07 left in the game and the score at 76-73. Only three points behind, Milligan had a chance for victory.
While being pressured by two defenders, freshman Hayley Wyrick called a timeout with 1:34 left. After the break, Montreat continued their offensive drive and the game ended with their possession.
“We just want to have positive energy going into the tournament,” said Milligan senior Kayla Kelly. “That’s how we look at this, just one game at a time.”
Weddle, a prominent scorer in the first half, left the game with an ankle injury at 9:33 in the second half but soon returned with it wrapped to play.
Alexandria Gellman scored 21 points. Montreat seniors Kaitlyn Clontz and Kim Henderson also led in points for the Cavaliers. Clontz broke the final tie with a three-point-shot.
“We need to win to possibly get the fifth seed spot,” said Montreat assistant coach Janel Cox. With a win for Montreat and a loss for Reinhardt University, Montreat can play on Thursday, rather than the first day of the tournament.
“We are going to try to push pace on offense, trap aggressively on defense and exploit individual matchups that are good for us,” said Aubrey.
The Lady Buffaloes will play Montreat once again in the tournament at MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. on Thursday afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
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