KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - On Wednesday night, the Milligan University women's basketball team traveled to Knoxville, Tenn. for an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) battle against the Johnson University Royals. Milligan outscored Johnson in every quarter on their way to a 76-48 victory on the road.
Milligan's opening period saw them shoot at a strong 8-of-13 (61.5%) clip, outscoring Johnson who went 6-of-20 (30%) from the field. The efficient Buffs offense led them to a 18-15 lead at the end of the first period.
The Buffs extended their lead in the second, scoring 18 points behind 7-of-18 (38.9%) shooting and stifling the Royals offense, holding them to 4-of-15 (26.7%) on their field goal attempts. The impressive offensive showing, and tough defense, sent the Buffs into halftime with a 36-27 advantage.
Milligan continued the momentum built in the first half into in the third quarter. They took 10 more field attempts with 21 compared to Johnsons 11. On those 21 attempts, they converted on seven, and limited their opponents to only three buckets. The Buffs extended their to lead to 17 heading into the final quarter.
With a 57-40 lead entering the final quarter, Milligan had no issues closing out the contest. The Buffaloes tallied 19 points on a 8-of-14 ratio from the field to close things out. Johnson hit only three of their 16 tries in the fourth. That led to a simple 76-48 final in the Lady Buffs' favor.
Semaj Clark led all scorers with 17, shooting at an 8-of-13 clip. However, Milligan had a number of contributors with a total of 11 Lady Buffs recording at least one bucket.
McKenna Myers nearly reached double figures with nine points and
Makenzie Bremer and
Nina Lovelace chipped in seven points apiece. Three Lady Buffs added six in
Kenzie Campbell,
Lina Lyon and
Caroline Krueger, respectively. Rounding out the scorers were
Lexi Ervin (5),
Naomi Atchley (5),
Callie Reeder (4) and
Cora Browning (2).
The team had 13 assists in the bout, with Reeder leading the team with three. Clark, Campbell, Lyon and Atchley each dished out two. Myers and Ervin were responsible for the remaining pair.
Clark supplied a double-double for the Buffs, as she hauled in 14 rebounds to lead the team. The team totaled 55 individual rebounds, with every player who touched the floor notching at least one. Myers had six, while Campbell and Ervin had five and four. Ervin had three, while Bremer and Lovelace each had two. The remaining Lady Buffs had one each.
Clark led the squad with a pair of thefts. The team had four other steals that came from Campbell, Myers, Bremer and Atchley. Atchley also recorded two rejections to lead the team, while Clark and Bremer each sent a shot away.
