From Union Sports Information

BARBOURVILLE, KY (January 9, 2007) --- Freshman Brooke Smith netted a career-high 22 points in helping Union College to a 73-65 Appalachian Athletic Conference win over visiting Milligan College Tuesday.

The Pineville, Ky. native hit six of 11 from the field and was a perfect eight for eight from the line in recording the game-high as Union improved to 8-0 at home this season.

Union started off cold, falling behind 11-6 with 16:40 to go in the first half. However, the Lady Bulldogs flipped the switch and went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-11 lead at the 11:28 mark. After Milligan tied it at 13, Union began to slowly pull away as it built a 37-27 cushion with 2:40 remaining en route to a 37-31 halftime lead.

After scoring the last four points of the first half, the Lady Buffaloes six of the first eight in the second half to cut the margin to 39-37 with 16:47 to play. Using an 18-6 surge, the Lady Bulldogs opened up a 64-47 margin with 7:19 left. But Smith's bucket at 7:19 would be Union's last of the game as its final nine points came from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Milligan chipped away at the lead, pulling as close as eight points. Yet, the Lady Bulldogs held on for the 73-65 decision.

After Smith, Susanna Todd was the only other player to score in double figures for Union (11-7 overall, 4-3 AAC) with 10 points. Andrea Hillard had six assists to give her 103 on the year, making her the first player in program history to record 100 assists in four different seasons.

For Milligan (6-8 overall, 3-4 AAC), Rikki Baughman (Elizabethton, Tenn.) continued to average a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Leah Anderson (Lexington, Ky.) chipped in 11 points.

Milligan entered the game as the sixth-best 3-point shooting team in NAIA Division II with a 41.1 shooting percentage. However, the Lady Buffaloes hit just three of 17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc. Union hit 42.1 percent (eight of 19 shots) from 3-point range.

The win marked the first time Union won having scored less than 75 points. Prior to the game, the Lady Bulldogs were 0-7 when scoring less than 75 points while going 10-0 when netting at least 85 points.

The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Bryan (Tenn.) College Saturday for another conference battle at 5:30 p.m. Milligan will travel to NCAA Division II foe Brevard (N.C.) College Thursday night for a 6 p.m. contest.