MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (January 20, 2007)-- Saturday afternoon’s Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle between Milligan College and Tennessee Wesleyan College (TWC) saw eight ties and twenty lead changes. The last of these lead changes came with 22 seconds left when TWC’s Ashley Hardaway hit a 3-point shot to put the Lady Bulldogs in front 75-73. TWC made two free throws in the final seconds for the 77-73 conference win.

With the results, Milligan is now 10-9 overall and 5-5 in the conference and Tennessee Wesleyan moves to 13-6 and 6-4 in the AAC.

The early part of the second half was a tight battle between the teams until Hardaway drained a 3-point basket to give TWC the lead 52-50 with13 minutes left. The Lady Bulldogs would extend their lead out to as many as six points, their largest lead of the contest.

Milligan fought back to tie the game on two occasions down the stretch. The first was after a Kacie Letterman (Gray, Tenn.) free throw with 3:15 remaining. Leanne Pelham put TWC back in front 72-70 but the Lady Buffs’ answered with a basket from Rikki Baughman (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and a free throw from Hali Sparks (Erwin, Tenn.), putting them up 73-72 with 1:18 remaining in the contest.

With the score 14-15 in the first half in favor of TWC, Milligan went on a 14-to-4 scoring run that would give Milligan control for a stretch, as well as the lead, 28-19 with six minutes left in the first half. Sparks scored four of her 14 first half points in the run. Also contributing to the Lady Buffs’ efforts were Brittany Kilgore (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Candace Shelton (Flag Pond, Tenn.)with five points each.

Tennessee Wesleyan fought back from the run and was able to tie the game at 28-28 with four minutes left in the half. The Lady Buffs’ would not go quietly, however, and went into the half-time break with a two point lead provided by a bucket from sophomore Leah Anderson (Lexington, Ky.), bringing the score to 37-35.

After scoring 14 first half points, Sparks finished with a game high 19 points. Baughman performed well for Milligan, providing 12 points and ten rebounds in the match-up. Also contributing to the Lady Buffs’ efforts were Shelton and Letterman, with 10 points apiece. 

The Lady Bulldogs were lead by Leanne Pelham, who had 18 points and ten rebounds in the game. Teammates Jennifer Patterson and Hardaway would finish the night with 17 and 16 points, respectively.

Milligan will travel to Virginia Intermont College on Jan. 23 to face the Lady Cobras. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.