MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat women's basketball team hosted the Johnson University-Tennessee Royals in an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle Saturday afternoon. When all was said and done, the Cavaliers saw their 8-game win streak snapped at the hands of the Royals, who defeated the home side 74-69, moving the Cavs to 15-8 overall and 12-5 in the AAC.
 
Montreat found itself ahead 7-5 in the early going thanks to scoring from three different Cavs; however, 3-point shooting allowed the visitors to pull ahead. The Royals, who made five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, notched four during a short stretch to go up 15-9. Despite the deficit, the Cavaliers used five points from Katie Alexander and a 3-point make from Adrianna Gullette to close the gap to 18-17 after the first quarter.
 
In the second frame, Johnson (13-9, 11-5 AAC) utilized the longball to extend its advantage. After Montreat knotted the score at 22 with a 3-pointer from Virginia Edmondson, the visitors went 4-for-5 from the field during an 8-0 run to jump up 30-22. Four points from Madison Cole trimmed the edge to 30-27 with 3:07 remaining in the period, but three straight triples gave the Royals a 39-27 lead. Ultimately, JU went into the break up by nine (39-30).
 
Rymiah Sanders led the Cavaliers with seven points at the intermission as seven separate Cavs tallied a bucket in the opening half. Grace Rinaldo grabbed a first-half team-high five rebounds.
 
Defense aided Montreat to its comeback attempt as the home squad held the Royals to only nine points in the third quarter. Six forced turnovers contributed to nine points in the frame alone as the Cavaliers outscored Johnson 16-9 in the third. Ten points from Edmondson spearheaded a 12-2 stretch that saw the Cavs flip the script to lead 42-41 midway into the quarter. The Royals were held scoreless for over four minutes but made a late charge in the frame to head into the final 10 minutes up by two (48-46).
 
A high-scoring last period went the Royals' way; however, not without a fight from Montreat. Johnson's lead fluttered between one point and six points throughout the entire fourth quarter. After JU led by six with eight minutes to go, the Cavaliers cut their deficit to a single possession on six different occasions, including a single point twice on baskets from Rinaldo, but the home team never got the combination of makes and stops to tie the game or take the lead again, resulting in a 5-point defeat.
 
Edmondson ended with 18 points to lead all scorers, while Sanders poured in 16. Cole finished with 10 points as the third Cavalier in double figures in scoring. Cierra Lail and Rinaldo each collected a team-best seven boards. Though the Cavs concluded the day with a better overall field goal percentage (38.9 percent) on 72 shots (28-72 FG) and notched more points in the paint (34-14) and points off turnovers (22-11) than Johnson, the Royals made 12 shots from deep (12-33 3-pt FG; 36.4 percent), snatched 12 more rebounds (50-38) and registered nine more assists (17-8).
 
Women's basketball now travels to Georgia for a matchup with Brenau University on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.