KINGSPORT — Milligan College women’s basketball team saw its hope of punching a ticket to this year’s NAIA national tournament disappear Saturday in the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament final.A day after knocking off top-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan, the Lady Buffs fell to No. 2 seed Union 72-67 at the MeadowView Convention Center. Milligan’s season ended at 18-13 and 12-8 in the AAC.Milligan trailed the entire game and fell behind by as many as 11 in the second half, but rallied for a close finish.Down 63-55 with 3:31 left, Kayla Kelly and Allison Jones made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cut it to four, 65-61, and Jones followed with a blocked shot and a tough basket in the lane on the other end to bring the Lady Buffs back within two.Callie Cox had a block from behind on the Bulldogs’ next possession, but Lydia Nash grabbed the ball and made a shot to put Union back up by four. From there, the Bulldogs stopped Milligan and made their free throws to seal the win.Kelly, a senior, was named to the all-tournament team along with freshman Hayley Wyrick. Kelly led all scorers with 26 points, going 8-for-17 from the floor with six rebounds.Jones had 13 points, five steals and four boards, while Chelsey Weddle had a team-high 10 rebounds and added four points.Union’s Ambert Taylor was named the tournament MVP. She had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds; Nash had 14 points. The Bulldogs improved to 24-8.Union made it a sweep, winning the men’s championship as well on Saturday.DeAntray Stevens scored 24 points and the top-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Virginia Intermont 74-63. Union ended the Milligan men’s season on Friday.The win was a school record 28th of the season for Union (28-4).Both the men and women will wait to learn their fate for the NAIA Division II tournament when the pairings are announced on Wednesday.
↧