December 30, 2004
Box Score
Richmond, Ky. –The Longwood University women’s basketball team dropped a 56-46 decision to Eastern Kentucky at the EKU Classic held at Paul S. McBrayer Arena Thursday, December 30. The second all-time meeting between LU and EKU pitted 22nd-year head coach Shirley Duncan against the school she began her head coaching career at nearly 30 seasons ago in 1975.
The Lancers (5-6) were led by junior forward Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) who scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds, made one steal and dished out one assist. Senior forward/center Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) controlled the boards for Longwood, grabbing a game-high 13. Laura Shelton and Miranda Eckerle, who finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively, led the Colonels. The Lancers will be back in action January 4, when they face off against the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
The host Colonels started off fast building a 7-0 lead at the 16:26 mark. Ashley Cazee drained a three-pointer and made a layup, while Shelton made a layup to give EKU the strong start. Ashley Mason made two free throws to put Longwood on the board, but a 6-2 run by Eastern Kentucky gave the Colonels a nine-point edge with 12:16 remaining in the first half.
Longwood was able to cut the score to 14-10 on a layup by senior forward/center Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney) at the 10:26 mark. The bucket by Dunn would be the last field goal of the half by the Lancers, as they were limited to 11 straight free throws down the stretch. Junior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) closed out the half for LU sinking two free throws and closing EKU’s halftime lead to four, 25-21.
Longwood sliced EKU’s lead to two, twice in the early minutes of the second stanza, but with the score 29-27 the Colonels scored eight straight points to hold a double-digit advantage at 37-27 with 12:55 to play in the game.
A 9-3 run by the Lancers, which Ashley Mason capped off on a three-pointer at the 9:22 mark, cut the Colonels lead to 39-36. That is as close as Longwood could get as Louista Pierre hit a jumper and Pam Garrett scored two buckets and made two free throws the push the Colonel lead to 45-36. Shelton closed out the game sinking six of eight free throws over the last 48 seconds to seal the victory for Eastern Kentucky.
Meldere also added seven points, one steal and one assist along with her 13 rebounds for Longwood, while Amber Mason finished with eight points, all coming from the charity stripe, and added five rebounds, four steals and one assist. The Lancers shot 26.7% (15-56) from the field, including 21.4% (3-14) on three pointers, and was 76.5% (13-17) from the charity stripe.
Eastern Kentucky had three players finish with double-digit points. Besides Shelton and Eckerle, Garrett finished with 11 points and added seven boards, four steals and two assists. The Colonels finished the game shooting 37.5% (18-48) from the floor, including 22.2% (2-9) on three-pointers, and hit 62.1% (18-29) of its free throws.
