WALESKA, Ga. -- On Monday evening, the No. 8-seed Reinhardt College women's basketball team began Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament play with a 74-60 first-round victory over the visiting Virginia Intermont College Lady Cobras, the ninth seed, inside the James & Sis Brown Athletic Center.  

After leading by four points early in the game, Reinhardt fell behind 35-33 at halftime. Virginia Intermont took its biggest advantage of the night, 37-33, at the start of the second half before the Lady Eagles pulled away with a 36-18 spurt to lead 69-55 with 3:22 remaining. The Lady Cobras never got within single digits the rest of the way.

In posting its third win over VIC this season, Reinhardt shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field while the guests finished at 34.4 percent (22-of-64). From the free throw line, the Lady Eagles were 22-of-34 (64.7 percent), compared to 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) for Virginia Intermont. The hosts' bench outscored the Lady Cobras' 47-24 and Reinhardt had a 47-41 edge in rebounds.

For the winners, Kinsey Galyon came off the bench to toss in a game-high 18 points while Jordan Marsh recorded a double-double in a reserve role by scoring 17 and pulling down a game-best 10 rebounds. Jemere McCurty and Jaybriel Guyton ended with nine and eight points, respectively, while Monique Blanding dished out a game-high eight assists. Freshman Sarah Hewett added a game-best four steals as a reserve.

The Lady Eagles improve to 13-18 overall while VIC concludes its season at 4-26. Reinhardt advances to the quarterfinal round of the AAC Tournament, playing at the top-seeded and conference regular season co-champion Milligan College Lady Buffaloes on Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Milligan College, Tenn.