Milligan women’s basketball team have started the season with a 3-1 record with wins over Faulkner University, Bluefield University and West Virginia University Tech. The Buffs only loss came to Cumberland University in a 91-83 effort. Despite the one loss, the Lady Buffs’ confidence is still through the roof. The Buffs first win came in a 74-71 comeback victory against Faulkner. Milligan was down by 11 at halftime and went down as much as 13 early in the third quarter. However, they went on to outscore Faulkner 43-30 to finish the game on top. Junior Lauren Longmire was the leading scorer for the Buffs with 17 points. She explained that even though her team was down big at one point they were never worried.
“I’m usually good with looking at the score and knowing how much we are up or down, but this time I felt like we were down by two points the whole game, and the team felt the same way,” Longmire said. “ Our coach [Milligan Head Coach Kylie Russel Greer] told us we knew we could win this if we locked in on the boards and we did.”
The win meant a little more to the women in a win over Faulkner, who received votes in the NAIA preseason top 25 and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament last season, also blew the Buffs out by 22 points last season. However, this is a different year, and a different Buffs team. The feeling of optimism and confidence is felt throughout the team on what could potentially be a special season.
‘As a team, we definitely feel like this year is different. We have so many more all-around players, so our opponents can’t just key a few players and stop us. We are a very deep team’
Lauren longmire
“Coach has really been pushing us. She knows what we can do and we are seeing that now that we are finally in the season. We have very high expectations” Senior Emma Harig said.
On the subject of expectations, the Buffs want to improve from their 19-10 record last season and an unexpected early exit in the first round of the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament.
“Our main goal is winning the conference and of course making it to nationals. We feel like we have a good shot this year to do both” Hairg said.
“Outside of obvious overall goals we want to be undefeated at home, and to use our size to out rebound every team we play against, which we have so far” Logmire said.
Longmire and Harig both credited part of the early season success of the team to their chemistry off the court. Head Coach Kylie Russel Greer made this a priority early this season for the Lady Buffs. Greer conducted multiple team outings, team bonding exercises and tips to build the camaraderie within the team. They both playfully mentioned the night the entire team had to sleep in Steve Lacy Fieldhouse as a time that really brought the team together. The sisterhood within the team has grown to the point where the team hangs out more often on their own, without the instruction of their coach.
‘Our off the court chemistry helps our play on the court a lot. We hang out all the time, have a lot of fun being together on the bus rides and we really don’t have any cliques on the team’
emma harig
Despite the fast start for the Buffs both Longmire and Hairg explained the team still has some areas to improve on. They pointed out communication on the defensive end and reading each other better on the offensive as points of emphasis for the team and Coach Greer.
Milligan’s women’s next game will be against the University of Pikeville on Nov 11. For more updates on the buff visit milliganbuffs.com.