Miller having fun heading into second season

It didn’t take too long for Gracee Miller to make an impression on her University of Central Oklahoma head coach Emma Andrews.

“The second week of the season I was called into the office and she told me I was going to be a starter,” Miller said.

The coach liked what Miller brought to the table and thought her talents suited her to be in the starting line-up as a freshman.

“It was fun, I had a great time,” Miller said of her first season as a Lady Broncho. “There’s just a lot better competition in college than high school. You play against people who are better than you or just as good as you. It makes it a lot of fun.”

UCO, an NCAA Division II school, finished the year with an 8-20 overall record and the Lady Bronchos were 7-15 in MIAA Conference play.

Miller played in all 28 games, averaging 15.9 minutes per game. She averaged 3.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game. She had a career high 14 points against Northwestern Missouri State on Jan. 18. She was a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line in the game. She also had a career high five steals against Texas A&M International on Nov. 23, 2023.

It is never-ending basketball, which is a change for Miller, who was a multi-sport athlete in high school.

“From August to May, all we do is basketball,” Miller said. “You have to decide you love the sport to keep going and not to make it too hard on yourself.”

She also works on her game during the summer on her own. During the summer she worked on her three-point shot and her jump shot. She shot 32 percent from the field and 23 percent from the three-point line in the 2023-24 season. 

In high school, she was known for driving to the basket, but that is not as easy in college when there are six-footers playing in the post every game. She still does drive to the basket, just not as frequently as her days as a Lady Indian.

“I’m an undersized guard (5-7), so I like to go towards the basket and pull-up and shoot before the taller girls can get to me,” Miller said. 

She is looking forward to the season and expects to see improvement in her team.

“I’m excited to see what happens,” Miller said. “We have a new assistant coach (Keeton Peery), who I think is going to be really good for our program.”

Besides Miller there are five or six other players with significant experience who will be returning.

“If we can learn to play together, I think we will have a great chance of having a better season than the last,” Miller said.