January 7, 2004
BOX SCORE
WINGATE, N.C. – Longwood University junior Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) posted her ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and 15 rebounds, leading Longwood to a 78-68 collegiate women’s basketball victory at Wingate (N.C.) Wednesday night. With its sixth-straight win, and eighth win in the last nine games, the Lancers improve to 10-5 on the season and will travel to NCAA Division I Radford University on Saturday, Jan. 10 – the first meeting between the two schools since 1985.
At Wingate (7-6), the two teams traded buckets through much of the first half, changing the lead five times before Longwood finally took the lead for good on a free throw from Meldere with 11:28 remaining in the period to give the Lancers a 14-13 lead. Longwood gained control of the contest and entered the intermission with a 39-30 advantage.
In the second half, the Lancers extended the margin by as many as 16 points courtesy of a three-pointer from senior Erica Marcum/Charleston, W.Va. (George Washington) midway through the second stanza. The host school attempted to put together a rally, cutting the lead to nine points (70-61) with 6:01 left in the contest, but was quickly de-railed by an aggressive Lancer team that never led by less than 10 points again.
In addition to Meldere’s double-digit scoring effort, two other Lancers – sophomore twins Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) and Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) – each contributed 19 and 13 points, respectively. Ashley Mason went 6-10 from the floor, while tying her career-best four three-pointers on five attempts. Ashley Mason also added three assists, six rebounds, and two steals, while Amber Mason grabbed nine rebounds, dished out two assists, and had three steals. Longwood shot 38.8 percent (26-67) from the floor, including 33.3 percent (5-15) from beyond the arc, while adding 84.0 percent (21-25) from the charity stripe.
Emily Paffrath led Wingate with her own double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 44.3 percent (27-61) from the floor, yet were held to just 14.3 percent (1-7) from three-point territory. Wingate also shot 72.2 percent (13-18) from behind the line.
