National championship-acquainted Buffs start season Friday

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Oct. 30, 2019) – After qualifying for the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship last year for the third time in the last four seasons, the Milligan College women's basketball team will look to experience similar success in the 2019-20 campaign, set to start Friday.

The Buffs open the season Friday at the Appalachian Wireless Classic, hosted by Pikeville University, facing Pikeville Friday at 4 p.m. and Shawnee State Saturday at 10 a.m.

Head Coach Rich Aubrey, a 10-time conference coach of the year and the 2013 National Coach of Character, leads Milligan in his 27th season.

"Our goal remains consistent from year to year. We want to play in Iowa," Aubrey said. "Qualifying for the national tournament is an indication that we have had continued success on the court."

To do that, Milligan first will need to go through another tough Appalachian Athletic Conference schedule that features 24 games. While the Buffs lost a strong senior class from last season, they have a strong core of returners and plenty of national championship experience under their belts.

Top returners

Returning this year is a handful of Buffs who have been to the national championship at least once. Senior Kaely Gose headlines this group as the leading scorer who averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds last season. Gose, a 6-foot forward from Gate City, Virginia, made 32 starts in 33 games and was one of five Buffs to average over 20 minutes per game.

"Kaely has been contributing for us in many ways this preseason," Aubrey said. "She's scoring, she's rebounding, and all-around she's more confident and more assertive. I'm pleased with how she has been playing."

Junior Emma Kate Brown (9.1 points/game), senior Emily Kiser (7.0 points/game) and junior Teal Davis (4.7 points/game) return as the next three Buffs in last year's scoring column. Brown also averaged 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists while Kiser was the top threat from the perimeter, shooting 38 percent from 3-point territory with 45 makes.

Key newcomers

Aubrey said Kayla Romines, a combo guard from Heritage High School, has been solid and steady in the fall. He noted Romines will have a chance to contribute, as will Stacia Wilson, who will give the Buffs minutes at one of the post spots, and Regan Blunt, a good 3-point shooter. Aubrey also mentioned Malarie Tallent, who will flex between point guard and shooting guard.

What happened last year

Milligan went 26-7 (23-3 AAC), finished runner-up in the league and qualified for the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship for the third time in the last four years. It marked Aubrey's eighth time taking Milligan to the national championship in his 26 years at the helm.

The Buffaloes started the season 9-0 before posting 13 wins in a stretch of 14 games in the spring semester. That stretch featured a seven-game winning streak, which helped Milligan enter the NAIA top 25 for the last month of the season.

Milligan's season ended at the national tournament where the Buffs, a No. 5 seed, fell to No. 14-ranked St. Francis, a No. 4 seed, 73-63.

Players lost | Adjusting to new team

Milligan's top two scorers from last season came from a strong senior class. Sarah Robinson, a two-time NAIA All-American, averaged 13.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Andi Lamb, who made the All-Conference second team, averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

The Buffs also lost another tremendous scorer and rebounder in Mackenzie Raizor (9.5 points, 8.7 rebounds/game) and a talented point guard in Cassidy Anderson (4.0 points, 1.6 assists/game). Raizor made the All-Conference first team and All-Defense team.

 "That was a great class on and off the floor," Aubrey said regarding last year's senior class. "This year we will have to adjust by sharing the load, especially in rebounding. In Sarah and Mackenzie, we lost two really good rebounders. This year obviously Kaely (Gose) and our guards will be good rebounders. It will take a team effort to make up the rebounders we lost."

Aubrey went on to explain how the 2019-20 team has a completely different personality than last year's team.

"We will have very different strengths and weaknesses," he said. "This year's team I think will be able to score in a variety of ways. Our challenge will be to develop an identity. I like our offensive talent."

A look at the 2019-20 schedule

With the addition of four new teams to the AAC over the last four seasons (Kentucky Christian in 2019-20, Columbia International in 2018-19, Brenau in 2017-18 and Allen in 2016-17), the conference is up to 15 teams and the Buffs will play 24 league games. This will mean another early start to the conference schedule and only a handful of nonconference matchups.

After the season-opening tournament at Pikeville, Milligan will begin the conference slate with their home and conference opener, hosting Bluefield College Wednesday, Nov. 6, inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse. The Buffs will host five games prior to Christmas, one game between Christmas and New Year's Day, then eight home games during the spring semester.

The final game of the regular season will also be Milligan's season finale: Saturday, Feb. 22, against St. Andrews. The AAC tournament will follow Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 26-29, once again at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport. This will be the eighth straight year MeadowView hosted the AAC postseason tournament.

Strength in the AAC

Among the 15 league teams, two are inside or near the NAIA top 25 in the preseason coaches poll. Bryan comes in with a No. 20 national ranking while Milligan, which peaked last season at No. 21, enters this season in the receiving votes category.

"Our conference is good," Aubrey said. "Bryan is a good team and returns a lot of players from a team that won a lot of games. There are multiple teams who will present challenges for all of us."

Milligan is one of four teams to win the AAC regular season title in the last five seasons. In fact, the Buffs have won the league twice in that span and five times in the last 11 seasons. Most recently, they won it back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.