CLEVELAND, Ga. (Feb. 4, 2019) – The Truett McConnell University women's basketball faced one of the top two teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Milligan College, on Monday night inside the Benjamin F. Brady Arena. The Lady Bears fell behind in the second quarter and couldn't recover as the Buffs, who are receiving vote in the latest NAIA national top 25 poll, won their 19th AAC game of the season (19-2 AAC) while the Lady Bears dropped to 4-17 AAC.

COACH'S COMMENTS

"First quarter we guarded them well enough but gave them a chance to go on a run toward the end of the quarter," Head Coach Tiek Fields said. "Second quarter we struggled to score but had the looks we wanted. Biggest thing is we gave them more chances to score by turning the ball over. We have a busy week with a game Wednesday and Saturday."

PLAY-BY-PLAY

TMU came out strong capitalizing on both ends of the floor. In fact, the Lady Bears led the Buffs the entire first quarter until the closing minute and a half (21-18). The Lady Bears were unable to finish at the rim before the half while Milligan put up 16 more points to put TMU at a 12-point deficit heading into the locker room (37-25).

The Lady Bears picked back up the pace in the third quarter but couldn't keep the Buffs from scoring. Milligan pushed to lead by 20 in the final 10 minutes of regulation and the Lady Bears ultimately could not recover.

Overall, the Lady Bears outrebounded Milligan by six (40-34).

LEADERS

Kendall's ninth double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds of her sophomore campaign led the way. Freshman Natalie Nixon followed with eight points going 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point line. Freshman Camilla Howell added seven points and junior captain Kinley Mitchell added six points, three assists and two steals while freshman Sydney Rumble had six points.

UP NEXT

TMU will be back at the Benjamin F. Brady Arena Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m., to face St. Andrews University.