Courtesy of SVU Sports Information

BUENA VISTA, VA (February 15, 2007) --- On senior night, SVU women’s basketball dropped a barn burner to Milligan College 62-58 Thursday night in the Barn. The Knights are now 10-14 while the Buffaloes improve to 17-12.

SVU held a 38-34 lead at the half but saw it slowly slip away in the second. The Knights had their opportunities late in the game but could not get the shots to fall.

The Knights opened strong, taking a 10-4 lead after a jumper by Shalece Hibbert. The Buffaloes came back and tied the score at 14-all and took a four-point lead at 21-17 on a shot by Kara Monk (Oliver Springs, Tenn.).

The two teams would trade leads until late in the half when Tricia Dixon made a shot with 1:08 remaining to give SVU the lead for good at 34-32. Hibbert added a free throw and then with the Knights leading 35-34, Kendra Romito rebounded a long three-point attempt by Hibbert, made the follow and got fouled right before the buzzer. She hit the free throw to complete the three-point play and give SVU a 38-34 halftime lead.

Romito finished the half with 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Knights while Rikki Baughman (Elizabethton, Tenn.) scored eight points and had seven rebounds for the Buffaloes.

After a three-point play by Chelsea Whetstone gave SVU a 42-36 lead early in the second half, Milligan scored 11-straight points to go ahead by five at 47-42.  Tesa Moe hit a three with 12:04 remaining to end the run but the Knights never reclaimed the lead.

They tied the score at 53-all and then at 55 on two free throws by Romito but the Buffaloes scored the next three to go back ahead. With 3:18 remaining, Whetstone hit two free throws to cut the lead to one at 58-57 but neither team would score for almost three minutes.

The Knights had several chances to take the lead but Milligan made the stops it needed and Baughman made two free throws with 27 seconds left to put her team up three at 60-57. Romito responded with one free throw to cut the lead to two but Baughman made two more with 14 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach for SVU.

Romito finished the game, the final home game of her career, with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Fellow senior Shalece Hibbert had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists while Susie Jex, another senior, scored two points, had two rebounds and one assist.

Baughman led Milligan with 16 points and 14 rebounds while Hali Sparks (Erwin, Tenn.) added 12 points.

The Lady Buffs will take on Montreat College in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse at 5:30 p.m.