Women’s Basketball edges E&H on the road 61-55

EMORY, Va. (November 12, 2022) – The Milligan University women's basketball team outscored Emory & Henry 9-2 over the final three minutes of the fourth quarter to earn a 61-55 victory at King Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs win their third-straight game with another late push to move to 3-2 on the year while E&H falls to 0-1.

The back-and-forth game featured 26 lead changes and 14 ties over the course of the contest. The teams ended the first quarter tied at 14, the second quarter tied at 28 and went into the fourth quarter with the Wasps holding a 43-42 edge. Midway through the fourth quarter it was Milligan ahead 49-48.

After an E&H basket, Kaylee Hendrickson drilled a three-pointer to give the Buffs a 52-50 edge. The Wasps tied the game at 52 with three minutes to play. Hendrickson sank another triple to give Milligan the lead for good at 55-52 with 2:40 to go. After the teams traded free throws, Kristy Galea converted a layup with just over a minute to play to just the margin to a two-possession game and a three-point play by Kayla Romines in the final 15 seconds iced the game at the 61-55.

Despite the game being within a point at the start of each quarter, the Buffs had to battle back from a nine-point deficit in the third as E&H opened up a 38-29 lead three minutes into the second half. The Buffs buckled down defensively and outscored the Wasps 14-4 the rest of the quarter as Erin Larkin and Hendrickson made threes and Stacia Wilson chipped in four points during the Milligan run. The spurt propelled the Buffs to a one-point edge heading into the fourth quarter.

Lauren Longmire paced Milligan with 16 points and four rebounds. Hendrickson made three three-pointers on her way to 11 points. Romines had eight points and Galea added seven. Madi Runnels and Emma Harig grabbed eight rebounds each.

Milligan shot 10-of-21 from three with six different players connecting from deep.

The Buffs return to Appalachian Athletic Conference action Tuesday night at Bluefield.