Unselfishness, Dominant Rebounding Help Women's Basketball Roll Buffaloes

By Mike DeVader, Reinhardt Director of Athletic Communications & Media

Photo Courtesy of Greg Spell/G-RoxPhotos.com

WALESKA, Ga. – Women's basketball wrapped up the month of January with its third-straight win on Saturday following a steady performance against Milligan (Tenn.) in an 83-61 triumph over the Buffaloes.

With the positive outcome, Reinhardt is now three games over .500 at 7-4, which is the same mark it has within Appalachian Athletic Conference action as well.

"Proud of our team as we are improving daily and starting to click a little bit," head coach Toby Wagoner said. "Really happy and proud of how unselfish we played with 22 assists; with Moe and Abi leading the way with seven and five, respectively. Also, really happy with our effort on the boards. I love the 20 offensive rebounds and 60 total – completely proud.

"In regard to scoring, it was great to get four in double digits and all-around balanced scoring effort. Really excited about our guard and post play. Happy for Brylee, as she had a great offensive game. Our posts keep improving and I am so proud of them; our guard play keeps improving as well."

A pair of book-end quarters, the first and fourth, helped the Eagles separate themselves from the Buffaloes as those two periods combined for a 20-point cushion out of the 22-point outcome.

Brylee Puckett had a stellar performance as she paced the offense with 15 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-9 shooting. Abi Haynes was next up with 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, and then she was followed by Catherine Shope and her 11 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and 3 assists.

Tarrah Gibson also chipped in with 10 tallies and five rebounds. Not to be outdone, Marlie Townley grabbed nine boards while Emilee Swafford pulled down seven missed shots to go along with eight points in the win.

The hometown squad was able to take a 40-31 lead into the locker room – even after surrendering a last-second trey when a defensive breakdown occurred at the buzzer. Milligan would continue to play close to their hosts in the third stanza just as it did in the period before, but it would lose all traction over the final 10 minutes by giving up a game-high 29 points.

The Buffalo offense couldn't keep up in the fourth after they failed to get the second-chance opportunities their counterparts did with offensive rebounds – 20-10 – and had an overall board differential of 60-41.

The Eagles allowed Milligan to get to the line 22 times (17 makes), but were strong enough to overcome their fouls and 17 turnovers.

Collectively, Reinhardt shot 40.5 percent and hit seven treys.

Tuesday's matchup at home with Montreat (N.C.) is postponed, so the next time the squad hits the floor will be on the road at Bryan (Tenn.) on Feb. 6.

Tip is set for 2 p.m. 

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For more information on Reinhardt Women's Basketball, please click here.