MILLIGAN, Tenn. — Milligan University's women's basketball squad honored their five seniors Saturday afternoon in a contest against Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) opponent Johnson University Royals. The Lady Buffs needed a win to remain in a tie for first place with Reinhardt (Ga.), and they did just that. The contest was never in doubt, as the Lady Buffs won all four quarters and led wire to wire, eventually crossing the century mark for a 101-60 victory at home.

The first seven points of the game came courtesy of Milligan seniors as Nina Lovelace knocked down a triple followed by a Semaj Clark shot from beyond the arc as well as a Clark free throw. The advantage grew to 12 at 15-3 after Makenzie Bremer sank a pair of free throws with just over five minutes remaining. The Lady Buffs defense was as good as their offense in the first quarter as they dominated the first stanza by scoring 25 points and limiting their opponents to eight points. Overall, Milligan shot the ball at a stellar 9-of-14 (64.3%) and stifled Johnson's offense to just 3-of-14 shooting in the first frame.

The Royals scored the first four points of the second quarter on a jumper and a layup, but Naomi Atchley answered at the other end to return the Buffs lead to 15 at 27-12. Milligan's offense was clicking on all cylinders and with just over two minutes left in the quarter senior Cora Browning sank a triple to give the Buffs a 24-point lead. Down the stretch, the Royals cut the lead down to 19, but a pair of Clark free throws in the final second returned the Buffs lead to over 20 at 47-26 heading into halftime. Milligan added 22 points on 8-of-19 shooting, while Johnson scored 18 points 7-of-15 shooting in the quarter.

The Buffs started the second half on a 5-0 run after Lovelace made a jumper then took the ball away leading to a McKenna Myers fast break layup. The Buffs simply would not allow the Royals back into the game and held a 29-point advantage with five minutes remaining in the quarter. With two minutes to play in the third quarter, Kenzie Campbell scored a basket at the rim to give the Buffs a 72-39 advantage. In the final two minutes, MU outscored JU by five points to take a commanding 81-43 lead into the final quarter.

Naomi Atchley converted on a pair of free throw attempts to start the fourth, giving Milligan a 40-point lead at 83-43. Milligan reached their largest lead of the game of 45 points after Dachelle Lucas made a layup with 1:39 to play. With a comfortable gap in the scoring and the clock winding down, Milligan continued to play well and eventually earned a statement victory by a final score of 101-60.

Semaj Clark poured in 24 points on an effective 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and a perfect 1-of-1 from three-point range to lead all scorers in the contest. Lexi Ervin was dialed in from distance, shooting at a 4-of-7 clip from three and 5-of-8 overall for 16 points. Lina Lyon provided a spark off the bench this time around finishing 7-of-11 from the floor with 16 points. McKenna Myers tacked on eight points with 50% shooting and Kenzie Campbell chipped in six. Nina Lovelace tacked on five points, while Cora Browning added four. In total, eleven Lady Buffs recorded baskets and totaled 34 for 64 (53.1%) shooting and 10 for 21 (47.6%) from three.

Clark and Campbell led the Buffaloes in assists each distributing five. Caroline Krueger shared the sugar three times, while numerous Buffs added two and Makenzie Bremer dished out one to reach a grand total of 24 assists.

Clark hauled in seven rebounds to lead the team. Bremer reeled in six and Krueger corralled the rock five times. A plethora of other Buffs combined to grab the eventual total of 44 rebounds for the team.

The Lady Buffs had eight steals in the contest with Browning and Lovelace leading the way with two. The other four steals were recorded individually by Clark, Bremer, Campbell and Lucas. Clark also sent back two shots, while Krueger and Callie Reeder each rejected one.

It was a great senior night for Lady Buffs (16-7, 15-1 AAC), who spent much of the second half on cruise control against Johnson. Next on the docket is a home matchup on Monday, Feb. 16 with Reinhardt (Ga.), who the Lady Buffs are tied with at the top of the conference. The high-stakes bout is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. inside Steve Lacy Fieldhouse.