Women’s Basketball cruises to 68-55 victory at Montreat

MONTREAT, N.C. (January 28, 2023) – The Milligan University women's basketball team used a dominant first half effort to cruise to a 68-55 victory at Montreat on Saturday afternoon.

With the win and Reinhardt's loss at St. Andrews, the Buffs move into sole possession of second place in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) standings with a 16-5 overall record and 14-3 AAC mark. Montreat remains a top-five team in the AAC despite the defeat at 14-6, 12-6 AAC.

After an even game through the first six minutes of action, Milligan closed the first quarter with a 7-1 run to lead 14-9 after 10 minutes of play.

A 14-0 run in the second quarter saw the Buffs' lead balloon to 30-11. In the spurt Jaycie Jenkins and Kenzie Campbell knocked down three-pointers. Semaj Clark's three late in the half pushed Milligan's edge to 20 (35-15) and Milligan led 39-19 at the half. All told, Milligan outscored Montreat 25-10 in the second quarter with the Buffs' bench providing 17 points.

The Buffs maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half with Montreat cutting the margin to 11 (66-55) in the final minute of regulation as Milligan held on for the 68-55 victory.

Lauren Longmire had 14 points on six-of-10 shooting with four assists and two steals. Clark added 12 points off the bench and Kristy Galea chipped in with 11 points. Jenkins had nine points and four assists in 15 minutes of action.

As a team, Milligan shot 49.1 percent from the field and tallied 19 assists on 28 made baskets. The Buffs owned sizable advantages in points off turnovers (22-9), points in the paint (36-22) and bench points (33-6).

Milligan hosts Columbia (S.C.) in the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening for the Buffs' January finale.