Tigerville, S.C.—Despite 31 points from Karly Stache the North Greenville Crusaders fell Saturday afternoon to the Milligan College Buffaloes 85-80 in Hayes Gymnasium.

The Lady Crusaders never led during the 40 minutes of play and trailed by as many as 13 points and pulled to within two points of the Lady Buffaloes four minutes into the second half. Stache was 6-11 from the three point arch and her 31 points led all scorers.

Milligan got off to a quick start opening the game with a five-minute, 11-0 run. Freshman Morgan Black got NGU on the board 14:23 into the game with a five foot jumper.

The Crusaders struggled to score in the first period however shooting just 32 percent from the field while Milligan shot an impressive 68 percent from the field. North Greenville trailed by 9 heading into intermission.

Coach Arledge’s squad came out firing on all cylinders in the second half of play opening the period with a 7-4 run to pull within two of the Buffaloes. Milligan never faultered however, scoring on key possessions to keep the Lady Crusaders playing from behind the entire game.

North Greenville made a final push with two minutes left in the game. With Milligan up by 12, NGU put together a string of scores to pull to within five with 12 seconds left. Christina Carlis would come up with a steal and heave a three pointer that came up just short. Ciara Anderson gathered the rebound but quickly turned it over as Milligan picked up the loose ball and ran out the clock.

Christina Carlis also had a solid day offensively for NGU scoring 17 points and gathering nine rebounds.

The loss drops NGU to 2-7 on the season with a game against Limestone on Tuesday at 2pm.