MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (January 27, 2007)—Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) women’s basketball rivals King College and Milligan College faced off at Steve Lacy Fieldhouse Saturday night, with the game ending in favor of the King Lady Tornado defeating the Lady Buffs 72-66. However, in the game, Milligan sophomore forward Rikki Baughman (Elizabethton, Tenn.) scored a game-high 20 points to go along with a career-high 20 rebounds.

The Lady Buffs’ record will move to 6-6 in the conference, with an overall record of 12-10, while King rises to 10-2 AAC, 16-7 overall.

Early in the game the Lady Buffs took a 1-point lead over the King squad from a free throw by Kacie Letterman (Gray, Tenn.), making the score 5-4. The Lady Tornado, however, would follow suit to go on a 21-7 scoring lead over a seven minute period to put them ahead 25-12. In the scoring run, Kendell McGill contributed nine points for the Lady Tornado. Over the last three minutes of the first half, Milligan gained momentum with a 10-3 run and the Lady Buffs went into the half-time break trailing 35-30.

The Lady Buffs rode their momentum into the early stages of the second half. After a three-point basket from Leah Anderson (Lexington, Ky.) and a Hali Sparks (Erwin, Tenn.) field goal, Milligan cut the deficit to 36-35. Baughman put Milligan in front after making a basket two minutes into the half, and her free throw to finish the three-point play gave Milligan a 38-36 lead.

Milligan watched as King built their lead back up to ten points, after which the Lady Buffs battled back, assisted by a Baughman field goal to narrow the gap 60-61 with four minutes remaining. Crista Burtnett sunk two free throws with under 30 seconds left to bolster the King lead to six points, 69-63. Milligan’s Kara Monk (Harriman, Tenn.) then cut the deficit in half with her three-point bucket, which came with only 12 seconds remaining. King scored their final three points at the line to seal their victory 72-66.

Anderson and Sparks would finish the game with 12 points apiece to go along with Baughman’s 20. Monk contributed nine points in the game, all from behind the three-point line.

Kristi Moody scored a team-high 12 points for the Lady Tornado, while McGill and Kayla Milby contributed nine each.

The next opponent for Milligan will be Bluefield College, as the Lady Buffs will travel to Bluefield on Jan. 30. Game time will be 5:30 p.m.