Season Preview 2022-23 Women’s Basketball

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (October 31, 2022) – The Milligan University women's basketball team looks to compete for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) title after finishing as the AAC runner-up in the regular season and in the AAC Tournament last winter.

Visual Preview

The Buffs open their 2022-23 campaign against Alice Lloyd on Nov 2nd, JV at 5:00 pm, Varsity at 7:00 pm.

2021-22 Season Review: The Buffs were tabbed to finish ninth in the AAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll and responded with a 22-2 record against conference opponents to set a team record for win percentage in AAC conference play (.917). The Buffs won three AAC Tournament games to reach the AAC Championship before ultimately falling to Reinhardt.

Milligan hit its stride in the second semester, winning 13 of 14 games going into the AAC Tournament. The Buffs had win streaks of seven, five and 11 games over the course of the season. In the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse, Milligan went 13-0 against AAC opponents.

Three Buffs secured All-AAC honors, including then-senior Halie Padgett, who closed her Milligan career with All-AAC First Team laurels. The Buffs graduated two starters with Padgett and guard Lily Giffith receiving their diplomas in April.

"They were a special one," said third-year head coach Kylie Russell Greer. "We started the season, honestly, just hoping to win more games than the previous year, and by the end of it we were fighting for the national tournament. Their ability to bring it every single fourth quarter was impressive. Beyond the play, they loved one another, believed in one another, and inspired confidence in one another."

2022-23 AAC Preseason Poll: The Buffs were picked No. 2 by the league's coaches in the AAC Preseason Poll.

Team (First-Place Votes) - Total Points
1. Bryan (11) -216
2. Milligan (1) - 200
3. Point - 192 (2)
4. Reinhardt - 179 (1)
5. Tennessee Wesleyan - 164
6. Kentucky Christian - 134
7. Columbia International - 121
8. Truett McConnell - 110
9. Bluefield - 101
10. Johnson - 92
11. Union - 86
12. Brenau - 73
13. Montreat - 71
14. Columbia - 39
15. St. Andrews - 22

Team Captains: "Sierra Bailey, Kaylee Hendrickson, and Kayla Romines are this season's captains," said Greer. "They were nominated by their peers, and they do a great job of representing our team and Milligan."

Key Returners: The Milligan women's basketball team brings back two All-AAC honorees, three starters and seven members of its regular rotation from last season.

"We have an outstanding group of returners," said Greer. "They work well together and they know what it takes to achieve at a high level."

Junior forward Jaycie Jenkins returns as one of the top players in the NAIA and AAC. Jenkins received All-American honors from the WBCA, All-America Honorable Mention status from the NAIA and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team. She repeated as a member of the All-AAC First Team and received AAC All-Defensive Team honors.

"Jaycie is an outstanding player," said Greer. "She is extremely hard to defend and makes shots that other people don't even shoot. It is going to be interesting to see how teams try to defend her. I am sure she will get doubled even more than last season, and I am excited to see how that will create more ways for her teammates to elevate."

Jenkins was the nation's fifth-leading scorer at 21.7 points per game last year. She scored her 1,000th career point as a Buffs in her 51st career game in the AAC Tournament against St. Andrews. Jenkins totaled 13 double-doubles, 16 20-point outings and four 30-point games with a high of 36 points. She ranked third in the AAC in rebounding (9.1) and finished second in offensive rebounds (84) and free throws made (152).

Sophomore forward Lauren Longmire earned AAC All-Freshman and AAC All-Defensive recognition in her first collegiate season. Longmire started 25 games as a freshman and averaged 9.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. She ranked sixth in the conference and led the Buffs with 93 assists and finished third on the roster in scoring and rebounding behind Jenkins and Padgett. Longmire scored in double digits 15 times and scored a career high 23 points against NCAA Division II opponent Alabama Huntsville.

"Now that she has been able to shake off the freshman jitters, she will step up even more," said Greer. "My favorite thing about Lauren is that she does it all. She doesn't care about scoring a ton of points, but she loves to do all the little things and create for others. Lauren fills the stat line every single game."

Senior guard Kayla Romines emerged as one of the top three-point shooters in the AAC last season. She started all 32 games and canned 53 threes at 33.3 percent, both top-16 marks in the AAC. Romines averaged 6.9 points and 2.4 assists per game and scored in double figures seven times. She memorably sank clutch three-pointers to help Milligan earn comeback wins over Tennessee Wesleyan and Point in the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.

"Kayla's shot is beautiful," said Greer. "Much of the season she shot closer to 40 percnet, but teams, of course, began prioritizing her as a critical match up. We need her to make those shots, but beyond shooting she is a glue type player. When she is on the court she brings a calm to us, but there's no stat line for that."

Senior guard Kristy Galea averaged 7.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in her first season with Milligan. After starting the first six games, she missed over a month due to injury and found a role coming off the bench the second half of 2021-22. Galea had nine games with double-digit scoring with a high of 16 points in wins over Reinhardt and Point.

"Kristy spent her offseason playing for her National Team, Malta, and she is excited to perform at higher level now that she is more comfortable with our system," said Greer. "She brings another level of intensity to our team and will certainly be fun to watch!"

Senior forward Stacia Wilson was Milligan's first forward off the bench behind Jenkins and Padgett last season. She appeared in all 32 games and averaged 3.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. She scored in double-figures four times, all over the final month of the season, with a high of 14 points against Bluefield.

"Stacia is a top-notch defender and has added quite a bit to her toolbox this offseason," said Greer.

Junior guard Madi Runnels appeared in all 32 games last winter off the Buffs' bench. She averaged 3.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and had a season high 15 points at CIU.

Senior guard Kaylee Hendrickson found a groove from deep during the second half of the 2021-22 season. She made at least one three-pointer in each of the final 11 games to close the season and hit four threes on her way to a career high 16 points against CIU.

Junior forward Erin Larkin averaged 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in 17 games last season. Senior guard Shayla Stewart appeared in 11 games and had eight points in 16 minutes at Webber International. Senior forward Aida Castell Munoz appeared in three varsity games in her first season with Milligan.

Newcomers: Milligan welcomes an eight-player freshman class and a pair of transfer. Junior forward Emma Harig was a two-year starter at Cleveland State Community College and averaged 13.9 points and 6.9 rebounds last winter. Sophomore guard Tessa Gibson joins the Buffs after spending last season at Tusculum.

"We have a great group of freshman: Haley Crozier, Nina Lovelace, Ashtyn Meyers, Shelby Davenport, Kenzie Cambell, Cora Browning, and Semaj Clark," said Greer. "Each had successful high school careers and we look forward to their impact over 4 years. With only a few practices, Semaj Clark challenges our returners daily, and we are seeing consistent development from each of them."

Looking at the Schedule: The Buffs play a 24-game AAC schedule with five nonconference dates included in the first half of the season.

Milligan travels to defending AAC regular season champion Bryan on December 10 and hosts the Lions in the regular season finale on Feb. 18. The Buffs are scheduled to play AAC Tournament champs Reinhardt once, at home on Jan. 11.

The AAC Tournament will take place Feb. 20-25 at the Meadowview Marriott Convention Center & Conference Resort in Kingsport.

"With limited non-conference games we are taking advantage of three early games that could help us in our ARC and national rankings," said Greer. "Our first three, Alice Lloyd, Faulkner and Thomas will be great tests and prepare us for our first conference game on Nov. 8. Our team wants to finish at the top of the conference, but we have an understanding that every single game is important in our league."

Last Word: "Last season we were able to return Milligan Women's Basketball to our traditional expectation," said Greer. "Keep in mind, our program has been to the National Tournament 4 times in the last 10 years. That's our goal for this season. 2021-2022 we finished in 65th place, one spot out of nationals. This team will not be happy with anything but earning a bid to a NAIA regional. We have high expectations, but preseason goals don't count for much. We must take care of business come November."