KINGSPORT, Tenn. – AAC Player of the Year Semaj Clark had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead top-seed Milligan (Tenn.) University to a 64-61 win over No. 4 University of Pikeville in the semifinals of the conference tournament Friday night.
 
The wins moved the Buffs into Saturday's championship game. UPike's season wrapped up at 16-14.
 
UPike struggled shooting the basketball, hitting only 40.4 percent from the field and going 2 for 10 from three-point range.
 
The Bears were perfect from the free throw line, hitting all 13 of their tries.
 
Milligan (22-7) had a difficult time from the field as well, shooting 36.5 percent for the day and going 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from the arc.
 
UPike jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then was on top 6-4 after sophomore Jaaliyah Warren scored on a layup with 7:03 left in the opener. Milligan then scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 14-8 lead and maintained it for the rest of the half.
 
The Buffs led 16-12 after a quarter and 33-25 at the half.
 
AAC Freshman of the Year Anika Stehbens scored the first six points of the third quarter to pull the Bears within two at 33-31 with 5:56 left. Before the period ended, UPike scored six of eight, getting buckets from three different players, and when senior guard Allie Stone sank a jumper with 1:50 left in the frame, the Bears had regained the lead 39-38.
 
The teams went into the final quarter tied at 41.
 
The Buffs scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to lead 47-41.
 
UPike tied the game again, this time at 49 on a three-point play by Stehbens, with 5:56 to play. But Clark answered with a three to give the Buffs a lead it would never relinquish.
 
Three Bears reached double figures, led by Stehbens, who fired in 18 and led the team with three assists. Bush followed with 11 and nine rebounds, while Jaidy Mejia-Andrade ended her career with 10 points, eight rebounds, and proved her worth as the league's defensive player of the year with four blocked shots and a steal.
 
Finally Stone, the 2025 AAC player of the year, finished with nine points in the game. Her career total of 1,835 points makes her fourth on the all-time scoring list at the school.