BARBOURVILLE, Ky.— Traveling to Barbourville, Ky. for its first action in the new year, the Montreat women's basketball team hoped to capture an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) win over the Union College Bulldogs. Despite numerous career highs from Rymiah Sanders, the Cavaliers couldn't overcome their second-half offensive struggles as they dropped a 62-58 final. Following the defeat, Montreat's record fell to 7-7 (4-4 AAC) on the season.
 
Union (2-13, 2-7 AAC) weathered the early storm as Montreat vaulted out to an 11-4 lead over the hosts merely 3:48 into the matchup. Sanders, who scored eight of her nine first-quarter points in the paint, powered the Cav offense in the opening moments. Virginia Edmondson tacked on a few long-range jumpers for her five points in the period, but a pair of late 3-point makes helped the Bulldogs erase the deficit and knot the score at 16 by the frame's conclusion.
 
Four Cavalier turnovers coupled with a pair of triples and an and-one jump-started UC's 13-3 spurt to begin the second quarter as the home team seized the game's initial double-digit lead (29-19). Despite the sudden deficit, Montreat didn't panic. Instead, Aebri Graham got hot from beyond the arc. The Seymour, Tenn. native buried five looks from deep, matching her career-best single-game scoring output in the second frame alone (15 points). Sanders contributed four points to close out the period, and the visitors entered halftime with a 40-38 lead.
 
Both teams shot decent percentages from the field in the opening half. Montreat connected on 15 of its 35 tries (42.9 percent), while Union made 46.7 percent (14-30 FG) of its field-goal attempts. The Bulldogs maintained a 9-4 advantage in points off turnovers at the break, but the Cavs hauled in five more total rebounds (22-17) thanks to an 8-3 edge on the offensive glass. Graham and Sanders led all scorers through 20 minutes with 15 points each, and Cierra Lail snatched six boards.
 
Edmondson translated her steal into a layup 30 seconds into the third quarter, putting Montreat on top by four points (42-38) right out of the gate. While Lail and Sanders extended that advantage to 48-43 a little over four minutes into the period, the Cavaliers failed to continue their strong start to the frame. Montreat scored a total of three points across the final 5:21 of the quarter as Edmondson's 3-pointer proved to be the visitors' lone basket during the latter half of the period. Union capitalized on the Cavs' struggles, and it turned in an 11-3 run of its own across that same 5:21 span to possess a 54-51 lead with 10 minutes left in regulation.
 
Scoring came at a premium in the fourth quarter as a Bulldogs' 3-point bucket resulted in the frame's only scoring through six minutes of action. Katie Alexander ended a 9-minute Montreat scoring drought at the free-throw line, and an Edmondson steal and layup pulled the Cavaliers within a possession (57-54) with just 3:10 remaining; however, that basket was one of just two makes across Montreat's final 20 attempts from the floor. As a result, Union held on to score a 62-58 AAC upset on its home court.
 
Following a 6-for-30 effort in the second half, the Cavs ended the night shooting 32.3 percent overall (21-65 FG). Montreat also went 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) from deep and shot 56.2 percent (9-16 FT) at the charity stripe. On the other side, UC converted 38.6 percent (22-57 FG) of its tries from the field into points, as well as 25.9 percent of its 3-pointers (7-27 3-pt FG) and 55.0 percent of its free throws (11-20 FT). While the Cavaliers owned a 10-2 edge in fast break points, Union received more scoring contributions from its bench (17-2).
 
Sanders filled up the stat sheet with numerous career highs in the defeat. The Durham, N.C. native notched career-bests in points (22), rebounds (7) and assists (6). Edmondson and Graham each added 15 points offensively, and Edmondson matched her season-high in steals with six. Lail led the team with nine boards.
 
The Montreat women's basketball team returns to McAlister Gymnasium on Saturday for an AAC matchup against the Bluefield University Rams. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. in Montreat, N.C.