MEADVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Emily Lauer had three and a half hours to think about it.
Lauer and her Allegheny College women’s basketball teammates climbed into a bus and made the long trek from Meadville to Gambier, Ohio, to take on non-conference foe Kenyon.
It’s one of the longest road trips of the season for the Gators and as the miles piled up, so did Lauer’s anticipation.
There was a potential milestone at the end of that journey, one that meant a great deal to the Keystone High School graduate and junior guard at Allegheny.
Reaching 1,000 career points.
(Keystone graduate Emily Lauer celebrates with her friends and teammates after notching her 1,000th career point for Allegheny College during a 64-48 win at Kenyon on Sunday/submitted photo)
Lauer needed 10. She got it in the second quarter on her signature move — a floater while driving the paint.
“It means a lot, just having my teammates there and them all being there for me, as well as coaches pushing me,” Lauer said. “It’s just great to be able to mark that milestone off.”
It didn’t take a math whiz to calculate that Lauer was going to reach that coveted number at some point this campaign.
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Last year, Lauer come up big for the Gators, averaging 18.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. She was also a finalist for the Jostens Trophy, given to one Division III men’s and one women’s player based on performance on the court and in the classroom.
Lauer picked up in 2023-24 right where she left off. She’s averaging 16.4 points per game for Allegheny.
She scored 18 points on Wednesday last week to inch closer to 1,000. Needing 10 against Kenyon on Sunday, Lauer had a strong contingent of fans who also made the journey to Ohio.
When she hit the basket, scoring her 1,000th and 1,001st points, Allegheny coach Kelly Muffley quickly called a timeout so Lauer and her teammates could celebrate.
“The team came running off the bench to give me hugs,” Lauer said. “The announcer announced it. It was nice. It was nice, too, because one of my roommates who isn’t on the basketball team came to the game. She made the three-and-a-half-hour drive right before finals week. Then another one of my friends who graduated last year and who is in grad school and had a final (Monday), made the drive to come watch. So that meant a lot to me.”
Lauer has already accomplished a great deal in college after enjoying a stellar career at Keystone.
She scored more than 1,000 points for the Panthers, too. That’s a rare feat — 1,000 in both high school and college.
“It’s crazy because coming into college, I would have never thought that scoring 1,000 points would be something that would happen — I never thought it would happen in high school,” Lauer said, chuckling. “When I came into college, I was like, ‘Yeah. No way.’ Now it’s actually happened and the support behind me — my teammates, everyone — it was just so amazing. And I couldn’t be more thankful.”
(Lauer is mobbed by teammates after surpassing 1,000 career points for Allegheny College at Kenyon/submitted photo)
With the milestone achieved, Lauer is focusing even more on what is ultimately her biggest goal this season: getting Allegheny into the playoffs.
The Gators are 4-7 as they near the midway point and 3-3 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. But the schedule through the first 11 games was challenging and Allegheny has many more home games in the second half of the season.
Lauer is hoping the team can make a push.
“The games coming up are crucial,” she said. “They’re only taking six team to the playoffs this year (in the PAC), so we’re gonna need to step it up a little more here coming up. I think the biggest goal for me now is to get us in a position to make the playoffs and get these crucial wins here coming up.”
Lauer spent a lot of time in the offseason working on her game.
Opponents certainly know her name now after the big season she turned in a year ago.
“I was trying to get as many shots up as I could, whether that meant going to the YMCA or shooting on an outside court,” Lauer said. “I was just trying to make my shot better than it was. I knew a lot of teams will be guarding me on the drive, which is what I like to do, so I have to become more comfortable shooting outside shots.
“I’ve worked a lot on shooting the three,” she added. “I haven’t done a ton of it, but if I need to, I’m willing to shoot it now. I’m just becoming more confident in those skills than I was previously.”
That has helped Lauer become one of 18 women’s basketball players in Allegheny College history who have reached 1,000 points.
Lauer has a very good chance to eventually climb into the No. 2 spot on the all-time scoring list, which is 1,295 points held by Emma Pellicano.
The top spot may be a challenge. Kim Huber left Allegheny with 2,053 points in 1996.
“Hey, you never know,” Lauer said. “Never rule it out. As long as we win, I don’t care. That’s my main priority.
“It’s very true that basketball has exceeded my wildest dreams,” she added. “Basketball has brought me a lot of opportunities that I normally never would have had. So, I’m definitely thankful.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
