Women’s Basketball earns 87-72 victory at Johnson

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (January 10, 2024) – The Milligan University women's basketball team built a 26-point halftime lead and cruised to an 87-72 victory at Johnson (Tenn.) on Wednesday evening.

The matchup featured two of the top five teams in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) standings. Milligan rises to 12-4 on the season and 9-1 in league play while Johnson falls to 10-7, 8-3 AAC.

The Royals led 8-7 midway through the first quarter before Milligan embarked on a 15-2 run to close the period. Kenzie Campbell scored five-straight points to give the Buffs a lead they would maintain for the rest of the night. Halie Padgett scored 10 points in the opening quarter, eight of which came in the decisive run.

Lauren Longmire drained three three-pointers in the second quarter, the last of which put the Buffs ahead 47-23. A basket by Semaj Clark gave Milligan a 49-23 lead going into the halftime break.

Milligan's lead grew to 30 (57-27) at the halfway point of the third quarter and the Buffs cruised to the 15-point win.

Padgett finished with 19 points on 10 shots along with five rebounds. Longmire had 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Clark recorded 16 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Jaycie Jenkins had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Buffs were one assist shy of their season-high as Milligan totaled 26 assists on 32 made baskets. Milligan finished plus-nine (18-9) in the turnover margin and won the rebounding battle 42-39.

Milligan hosts Pikeville on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.