For Immediate Release
December 1, 2004
BOX SCORE
Morgantown, W.Va. – Longwood University dropped an 81-52 women’s basketball decision to West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va. Wednesday evening at the WVU Coliseum. The Mountaineers (5-0) were led by Meg Bulger who had a game-high 16 points, while Yolanda Paige added six points and dished out a game-high 17 assists. The Lancers (3-3) were led by junior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) with 10 points. Longwood will play again Tuesday, December 7, at Robert Morris at 7:30 p.m..
Longwood and West Virginia were tied 2-2 early at 19:20 before sophomore guard Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) drained a three-pointer to give the Lancers the lead with 18:07 to play in the first half. A quick run by West Virginia put the Mountaineers up by five at 12-7, but a made free throw by Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) and a jumper by senior forward/center Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney) cut the score to 12-10.
West Virginia put together a 27-5 run over the next eight minutes to open the game up and give the Mountaineers a commanding 39-15 lead at 5:14 and was able to go into halftime with a 25-point advantage.
The Mountaineers held its largest lead of the game at the 14:43 mark of the second half with a 36-point lead at 61-25. The Lancers were able to put together a 13-3 run to cut the score to 64-38 with less than ten minutes to play in the game. The offensive spurt was led by freshman guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) who scored six points and Hollman who sank three-of-three free throws.
Longwood would close the gap to 24, 70-46, at the 4:56 mark after freshman Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragsdale) hit a three-pointer and Amber Mason hit a jumper, but that is as close at the Lancers could get as West Virginia earned the 81-42 victory.
In addition to Amber Mason’s team-high of 10 points, Dunn and Small both added nine points each. Senior forward/center Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) added five points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Longwood shot 32.7% (18-55) from the floor, including 26.3% (5-19) on three pointers, and hit 55.0% (11-20) of its free throws.
Besides Bulger’s game-high of 16 points, Sherell Sowho and LaQuita Owens both added 12 points for West Virginia and Yelena Leuchanka scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Mountaineers shot 47.95 (34-71) from the floor, including 31.8% (7-22) from behind the three-point arc and was 46.2% (6-13) from the charity stripe.
