The Bryan women’s team defeated Milligan, winning the AAC regular-season title outright, marking their third straight AAC regular-season championship. Pictured is the team during a net cutting between games on Wednesday night.

DAYTON, TN (WLAF) – The historic run continues for 14th-ranked Bryan women’s basketball, as they captured their third straight Appalachian Athletic Conference Regular-Season Title on Wednesday night in an impressive 88-66 routing of fellow conference foe Milligan College (Tenn.).    The Lions had already sealed the championship in their previous win over Montreat College (N.C.), but the additional victory against the Buffaloes allowed the Lions to achieve the crown outright. What Bryan has accomplished/is accomplishing is nothing less than remarkable. The team is currently 14th in the country, have three-peated as AAC Regular-Season Champions, are one game away from back-to-back undefeated seasons in conference play (currently 23-0), have won 55 straight games against conference opponents, will be looking to defend their throne and win the AAC tournament for a fourth consecutive year, have punched their ticket to Sioux City, Iowa where they will make their fourth straight appearance at the NAIA Div. II National Tournament, and own the best overall record in all of NAIA Div. II women’s basketball at 27-1.

Lone senior Tristan McClellan showed out on Senior Night, guiding Bryan past Milligan with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-4 behind the arc, while chipping in three assists and five rebounds. The 17-point performance marked a season-high for the point guard from Byrdstown, Tenn. and tied for the second-highest scoring game of her career. Five teammates joined her with double-figures in the scoring. The duo of Kaitlynn Hennessee and Deandra Luna matched each other with 13 points apiece, Destiny Kassner posted 11 points, and the pair of Karli Combs and Shayla Ludy collected 10 points, respectively. Rounding out the scoring were Sarah Cain’s eight points, Amadea Pankey’s four points, and Braylee Franklin’s two points. Pankey aided Bryan in outrebounding Milligan 44-40 with a team-best nine boards. Luna, Hennessee, and Kassner trailed with five rebounds each. Luna led all players with seven assists, while Ludy ended with a game-high five steals.

The Lions shot just over 40 percent from the floor in the first half, but their seven three’s and 67 percent at the foul line helped in creating a comfortable 45-27 advantage at the break. On the other end of the court, the Buffaloes were just 32 percent on their shooting and struggled from the outside, going 1-for-12 behind the perimeter. Bryan lifted their efficiency to 52 percent in the latter two quarters and tacked on six more three-pointers, proving too much for Milligan.

The Lions opened with a 10-2 run, which saw the Buffaloes go without scoring for over three minutes into the first quarter. By the three-minute mark, a trey by McClellan lifted Bryan to their first double-digit lead of the game, 17-7. Hennessee came next with a three of her own, and Ludy spurred the rally on with a steal and layup on the opposite end for a 22-9 Bryan lead. Just before the midway point of the second quarter, Milligan scraped away at the deficit and got it as low as eight points, 32-24, but Bryan responded in extraordinary fashion. For over five minutes, the Lions’ defense stood tall and countered on the offensive end, outscoring the Buffaloes 13-0. It wasn’t until 13 seconds remained in the first half that Milligan broke their silence with a successful and-one play that trimmed the margin to 18 points, 45-27.

Bryan wasted no time in growing the lead to 20 points less than three minutes into the third quarter, 51-31. Milligan escaped the period without allowing the Lions to add any more separation, matching Bryan 24-24 in scoring. By that point, it was easy for the Lions to cruise in the fourth frame, creating their largest lead of the game at 5:08 when Combs capitalized in the paint of a Milligan turnover to go on top 84-54. The gap never dipped below 20, as the Lions devoured the Buffaloes 88-66.

Bryan will try and make it 24-0 this weekend with a matchup at home versus the Koalas of Columbia College (S.C.). The Lions and Koalas are scheduled to tip-off at 2pm on Saturday, Feb. 22 inside Summers Gym. Columbia is currently 8-18 overall and 7-16 in the AAC. At the beginning of February when Bryan traveled to Columbia, the Lions ran away with a 110-81 victory.

To view the full 2019-20 Bryan women’s basketball schedule, click here.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/21/2020-6AM)

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