MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (December 11, 2004) --- The Milligan College Lady Buffs (5-6, 4-3 AAC) basketball team defeated Co-Appalachian Athletic Conference leader University of VA.-Wise (5-5, 5-2 AAC) by the score of 72-53 at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse Saturday evening.

Milligan took the early 6-0 after a Kari Stout (Hampton, Tenn.) lay-up four minutes into the game.

Wise tried to cut into the lead, but sophomore Kacie Letterman (Gray, Tenn.) went coast to coast against the Cavaliers full court press to push the score to 12-6 in Milligan’s advantage with 11:10 left in the first half.

The Cavs felt a defensive presence from Milligan inside as freshman Ashley Stidham (Premium, Ky.) blocked three shots from Wise in back to back possessions late in the first half. After the blocks, the Lady Buffs pushed the lead out to as many as 19 points as Milligan saw a 32-13 advantage with 1:12 left after junior Leah Seevers (Glouster, Ohio) drained two free throws. Sophomore Rachel Helton hit a three pointer at the end of the half for Wise to make the half time score Milligan 32 UVa.-Wise 16.

Both teams traded baskets to open the second half but Wise could not cut into the lead and Milligan could not pull away. The Lady Buffs finally pulled away as senior guard Ann Marie Gardner (Black Mountain, N.C.) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 12:03 left in the game to put Milligan out front 48-27. That was followed by a basket from Laura Willett (Greeneville, Tenn.) for the Lady Buffs to make the score 50-27. UVa.-Wise called a time out after the Willett basket at the 11:32 mark. After the time out, senior guard Ginny White (Butler, Tenn.) nailed a three pointer from the wing to put Milligan ahead 53-27 with 11 minutes left.

The Cavaliers made some runs but could not get any closer then eight points in the last moments of the game. Milligan finished the game as Stout stole the ball from Wise then went and scored the last basket for the Lady Buffs, 72-51 with 1:40 left. Wise scored two points in the last minute.

“It is a very good win, I am thrilled with the rebounding statistics tonight (Milligan 47-27 rebounding advantage),” said Milligan head coach Rich Aubrey, “it was a quality win over a good team.”

Kari Stout led all scorers as she had 24 points to go along with eight rebounds in the contest for the Lady Buffs while Chelsea Lee scored 21 for Wise as she went 6-7 from behind the three point line. Kacie Letterman also scored in double-digits with 13 points and grabbed a game high of ten rebounds for Milligan.

Milligan out shot UVa.-Wise 41.8 pct. (23-55) to 28.1 pct. (16-57) in the game. Also, the Lady Buffs held Wise to 18 pct. (5-28) from the field in the first half.

Next for the Lady Buffs is a trip to play Warner Southern College in Lake Wales, Fla. next Saturday, December 18 as tip off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.