ASHEVILLE, N.C.— The Montreat women's basketball team hosted the Kentucky Christian University Knights this afternoon from the home away from home in Kimmel Arena on the campus of UNC Asheville. The Cavaliers (2-2, 1-1 AAC) fell to the Knights, their first Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) loss of their campaign, by a score of 85-81 in overtime.
 
The Knights (1-4, 1-1 AAC) gave Montreat quite the scare in the first quarter. At the end of the frame, the Cavs trailed 21-15. Rymiah Sanders put up 11 points right off the bat for the hosts. Karis Alexander was the only other Cavalier that added to the score with four. For most of the game, the Cavs left their noses in front. They led for half of the second quarter and the entire third quarter.
 
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Cavs led by 10, but KCU wouldn't go down without a fight. An Alexander layup on a fast break put the home team up by three. Two free throws and a 3-pointer from the Knights put them up by two with just over two minutes to play. The Cavaliers made three free throws to go up by one point. With under 30 seconds to go, the Knights went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to keep the game tied 72-72 at the end of regulation.
 
Towards the end of the overtime period, an Adrianna Gullette free throw knotted the squads at 81. The Knights took the lead with a layup. Montreat turned it over and fouled down two points. KCU missed both free throws but corralled the offensive board and drew a foul to go back to the line. The Knights then made the last two to seal the game.
 
Sanders set a new career high with 40 points for the Cavs, nearly doubling her previous mark. She was the only Montreat player to knock down a 3-pointer, and she managed to make four. Alexander followed with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds, two steals and one block.
 
Montreat shot 38.7 percent (29-75 FG) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-16 3-pt FG) from deep and 63.3 percent (19-30 FT) from the line. Montreat also had 47 points from turnovers and 20 fast break points. The Cavs also had more steals (12-8) and assists (19-16) in the loss.

"Nights like tonight are hard," said head coach Jamie Moore. "KCU had an incredible shooting percentage tonight, and when you go 3-for-8 from the line down the stretch, make multiple turnovers in the final plays and don't take care of the little things, it's tough to win games."
 
For the Cavs, they look forward to three straight away games at Bluefield University, Tennessee Wesleyan University and Johnson University. Their next home competition will be on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at Kimmel Arena in Asheville N.C.