MONTREAT, N.C.— Playing in its final home game of the 2023-24 regular season, the Montreat women's basketball team welcomed the Milligan University Buffaloes to McAlister Gymnasium Wednesday night for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) rivalry matchup. Unable to match the hot-shooting effort of the road team, the Cavaliers lost their senior day battle, 84-64, and fell to 16-10 (13-7 AAC) on the year.
 
Milligan (20-6, 17-3 AAC) took a swift 4-0 lead over the hosts, but Aebri Graham got the Cavs on the board to start her senior day with a bucket in the paint 2:40 into the contest. The visitors managed to build a 6-point edge (14-8) by the quarter's 3:07 mark, but Virginia Edmondson halved the deficit to 17-14 by the frame's end thanks to her and-one and a 3-point basket.
 
Rymiah Sanders and Edmondson buried triples to capture Montreat's first lead of the night (20-19) merely 90 seconds into the second period; however, that proved to be the Cavaliers' lone advantage of the ballgame. The Buffaloes went on a 20-2 run over 5:01, vaulting themselves out to a 39-22 lead. Graham poured in the home side's final five points of the half, but the Cavs still trailed 43-27 entering the break.
 
MU shot a remarkably efficient 62.1 percent (18-29 FG) across the first 20 minutes of action as it assisted on half (9) of its makes. The Buffs also connected on four of their eight 3-point attempts, and they maintained a 22-14 points-in-the-paint edge. Meanwhile, Montreat converted 11 of its 32 (34.4 percent) tries from the field into points, as well as three of its 11 (27.3 percent) looks from deep. Edmondson tied for a half-high with 11 points, and four Cavaliers hauled in exactly three boards.
 
A trio of baskets in the post aided the visitors in creating their largest lead of the night, 56-34, midway through the third quarter. Edmondson and Madison Cole teamed up for a 10-0 run across 1:24, swiftly trimming the gap to 56-44, but Milligan answered with a 7-0 spurt of its own to restore its comfortable advantage and enter the final frame up 65-47.
 
Triniti Lockhart drained her lone 3-point attempt of the game on Montreat's initial possession of the fourth to give the Cavs a bit of life. Graham and Cole added paint baskets midway through the quarter, and Edmondson hit her sixth triple to cut the scoring disparity down to 13 points (75-62). Despite the push, the Buffaloes withstood the hosts' surge, and they collected an 84-64 win as a result.
 
While MU couldn't fully replicate its scorching first-half performance, it still ended the day going 32-for-59 (54.2 percent) from the field and 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) from beyond the arc. On the other side, the Cavaliers shot 37.9 percent (25-66 FG) overall and 34.6 percent (9-26 3-pt FG) from deep. Milligan owned a slight rebounding advantage (36-33) and scored more points in the paint (40-30) after 40 minutes of play.
 
Edmondson led all scorers with 27 points, while Graham (14 points) and Cole (10 points) joined her in double figures. Cole grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, and Lockhart dished out a team-best five assists.
 
The Montreat women's basketball team faces off against No. 21 Reinhardt University this Saturday in its penultimate game of the regular season. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Waleska, Ga.