MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (December 8, 2006)--- The Milligan College women’s basketball team suffered a 70-61 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) loss Friday evening at the hands of the Bluefield (Va.) College Lady Rams in the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

With the results, Milligan now stands at 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the AAC while Bluefield moves to 1-3 in conference and 5-4 overall.

The game was tied five times in the opening half, and after the final tie, 29-29, Bluefield ran off six straight points to go into the locker room with a 35-29 lead. Milligan’s largest lead of the half came in the opening four minutes, when the Lady Buffs jumped out to a 7-2 lead.

Milligan started the second half with an 11-6 run over the first seven minutes to cut the lead down to one point after a basket from Kacie Letterman (Gray, Tenn.) Bluefield pushed the lead back out to 12 points with only six minutes remaining. After that, the closest the Lady Buffs could come was five points after Letterman hit a free throw with only 1:42 remaining. Bluefield kept Milligan from coming back and went on to a 70-61 win.

Hali Sparks (Erwin, Tenn.) led the Lady Buffs on the night with 13 points and six rebounds, while Leah Anderson (Lexington, Ky.) added 10 points and nine boards. Candace Shelton (Flag Pond, Tenn.) also scored in double digits, tallying 11 points.

The Milligan women will return to action on Dec. 16 and 17, in the Northwood University Tournament held in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Lady Buffs will open against Cardinal Stritch University at 2 p.m., on the 16.