Women's basketball shows grit in tough loss to Milligan

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Coming off a rough two-game stretch on the road, the Union women's basketball team looked much better in an Appalachian Athletic Conference home matchup with Milligan, battling to the bitter end in a 64-59 loss.

The Buffs, who improved to 13-3 in league play with the win, made a potentially back-breaking play just before halftime, when a Jaycie Jenkins heave from just in front of half court banked in at the buzzer, putting them up 38-34 at the break.

The Buffs took that momentum and ran with it, opening the third quarter on an 11-4 run and securing a 58-49 lead after three quarters, before a resilient Bulldog squad countered by scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter.

Union cut the deficit to 60-57 and even had an opportunity to tie the game when Ciara Uphoff got a clean look at a potential tying 3-pointer, only for the shot to fall short. The Bulldogs got within three again but a pair of Buff free throws with 2:41 remaining proved to be the final points of the game. All told, the two teams combined for just 16 points on 6-of-31 shooting in the final 10 minutes.

In defeat, three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by McKenzi Himes' 17 points. Raigan King added 14 off the bench, while LeAsia Linton scored 13 in a return to the court after missing the previous two games.

Now 3-19 and 3-15 in the AAC, the Bulldogs return home to face Truett McConnel at 2 p.m. Saturday.