Lady Buffs Break Skid, Defeat Mount St. Mary (Ok.)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Ok. – NBA figure Pat Riley once told his Miami Heat team to only pack one suit, one shirt, and one tie ahead of their 2006 NBA Finals trip to Dallas for game six against the Mavericks. Riley insisted he wanted to go on the road, win, and get back home to celebrate an NBA Championship.

Head Coach Jacob Miller brought that same intensity to his team’s five-hour trek to the Capitol City of the Sooner State, wanting to go on the road, win, and get back to celebrate.

He did let his team bring more than one pair of clothes, however.

The Garden City Lady Buffaloes snapped their five-game losing streak on Saturday, defeating the Mount St. Mary’s Lady Rockets, 44-34. The Buffaloes took home their first victory since December 8th, 2023.

“They understood that this was a business trip,” Miller said about his team. “They were ready to go, they were engaged… our mindsets were right for this game.”

Garden City (6-5) opened the game hot, forcing six Lady Rockets turnovers in the first quarter. The Buffs scored off of four of those turnovers, including a pair of buckets by senior guard Kamdyn Carr.

The Buffaloes had five different players hit field goals in the first, limiting Mount St. Mary (5-11) to just one first-quarter field goal.

MSMHS would pull within six at the half, but the aforementioned third quarter was all GCHS. Going into Saturday, GCHS had lost four of its last five third quarters, whilst averaging less than two field goals per quarter. Saturday’s third was a complete 360-degree turn.

“We know our third quarter,” Miller said. “We struggle a little bit. I wanted our intensity and our effort to take over on the defensive side.”

The Buffaloes held the Lady Rockets without a bucket for over eight minutes in the second half, going on a 15-0 run.

The second half was sparked by the play of seniors Miraya Martinez and Carr. The two combined for 19 points in the game, with Martinez delivering seven third-quarter points.

“I told them that this isn’t going to be a ‘top two player’ game,” Miller said. “This was going to be a game that had the best third, fourth, fifth, and sixth [scorers], and I thought we had that.”

The Lady Buffaloes wrap up the three-game road trip in Dodge City on Tuesday against the Lady Demons. Coverage on 99.9 ‘The Rock’ begins at 5:40 P.M., tip-off at 6:00.

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