GRAYSON, Ky.— In the team's first-round road matchup in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament, the No. 11-seeded Montreat women's basketball team dropped a 77-54 matchup to the No. 6-seeded Kentucky Christian University Knights Monday evening. Following the defeat, the Cavaliers concluded their 2021-22 campaign with a 12-19 (9-15 AAC) record.
 
A pair of baskets by Vaniyah Petty put the Cavs up 4-2 within a minute of the opening tip; however, seven straight points from the Knights allowed the home team to jump up by five (9-4) midway through the first frame. KCU (18-12) continued its run, scoring at a torrid pace and using six Montreat turnovers to its advantage as the Knights went up 26-9 after a quarter of play.
 
In the second period, an and-one by Petty and five points from Destiny Lewis helped the Cavs reduce their deficit, but Kentucky Christian, who knocked down six of its first eight attempts from three, used two makes from deep to answer. A back-and-forth quarter came to a close with the Cavaliers nearly doubling their first-frame output, but trailing by a sizable margin as the home side expanded its lead to 49-26 at the intermission thanks to outstanding efficiency.
 
The Knights led important statistical categories by shooting 53.3 percent (16-30 FG), connecting on six of 10 threes (60.0 percent), outrebounding the Cavs 21-12 and scoring 16 points off turnovers to contribute to their advantage. On the other hand, Montreat made nine of its 27 tries from the field (33.3 percent), including a 3-of-8 first-half showing from deep (37.5 percent). Neither team missed a free throw through two quarters as KCU went 11-for-11 and the Cavs drained all five of their free shots.
 
Lewis captained the Cavaliers with 10 points, while Petty added seven. Jessyka Leak, who scored all five of her first-half points in the second period, led the visitors with three rebounds through 20 minutes.
 
The teams then traded blows to start the third quarter with the Cavs tallying five of the initial seven points of the frame. Montreat pressured the Knights into a plethora of turnovers in the early going of the second half, holding the home team to just four points through nearly six minutes of gameplay. Though the Cavaliers did their job defensively, so did KCU in the frame, as both squads scored 13 points and the Knights went into the final 10 minutes up 23.
 
Kentucky Christian salted the game away in the fourth, scoring seven points to start the period to grow its edge to 30. The Cavs bounced back to trim the Knights' lead, but it wasn't enough to overcome the large first-half disadvantage as the Cavaliers fell in the 23-point contest.
 
A couple of late 3-pointers helped Caleigh Raby lead the Cavs in scoring with 15 points. Lewis followed Raby with 14 points and Petty ended with nine. Nine different players scored for the team in their final game of the season.
 
Overall, Montreat won the turnover battle, forcing 21 turnovers and scoring 19 points off those KCU miscues. Kentucky Christian used 50.0-percent shooting (28-56 FG) to turn the tide in its favor, while the Cavaliers connected on 18 shots in as many tries as their opposition (32.1 percent). Though the Cavs responded to the Knights' long-range efforts by making seven of their 18 attempts (38.9 percent) on the night, Montreat struggled from inside and on the glass, connecting on only 30.6 percent of its two-point tries (11-36 FG) and being outrebounded, 41-28, which harmed the team's comeback attempt.