January 11, 2005
BOX SCORE
Farmville, Va. – Longwood University earned a 69-64 women’s basketball victory over visiting Jacksonville State in Willett Hall this evening. Sophomore guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem), who was inserted into the starting lineup three games ago, was the spark plug for the Lancers (7-7) scoring a career-high 18 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-8 on three pointers and 2-4 from the charity stripe. Senior center/forward Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) finished with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds. The Gamecocks (4-7) were led by Freddricka Embry who finished with a team-high 13 points. Longwood will be back in action when they travel into North Carolina for a contest against Campbell Monday, January 17. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
The Lancers built an 8-3 lead right out of the gates on back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard Jessica Wilkerson/Roanoke (Northside) and a layup by senior forward/center Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney). A 11-5 run by Jacksonville State gave the Gamecocks a three-point lead at the 13:59 mark, but the Lancers surged back and scored the next 17 out of 23 points to hold a 14-point edge over JSU, 33-19, with 2:40 to play in the half. Freshman forward Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragsdale) hit two three-pointers and a jumper, while Freese hit a three-pointer and a jumper of her own to lead the charge for LU.
Freese started off the second half with a bang when she hit three three-pointers over the first three minutes of the second half. She drained her second three-pointer of the night to start off the second stanza and was fouled on the play. She sank the free throw to give Longwood a 41-25 lead with 18:57 to play in the contest. After a turnover by the Gamecocks and a steal by Meldere, Freese hit another three-pointer to push the lead to 19. Freese wasn’t finished as she hit her fourth three-pointer of the night at the 16:44 mark to give LU a double-digit lead at 49-29.
With LU’s advantage at 51-30 with 16:04 to play in the contest, JSU started slowly to chip away at the lead. The Gamecocks were able to cut LU’s lead to seven, 58-51, when Rebecca Haynes hit a three-pointer. A jumper by Meldere and a three-pointer by Wilkerson pushed Longwood’s lead to 12, but a 10-2 run by Jacksonville State slashed the Lancers lead to four with 44 seconds remaining in the game. Longwood sank four free throws over the last 38 seconds to seal the victory for the Lancers
In addition to Freese and Meldere, both Wilkerson and Dunn finished with double-digit points. Wilkerson scored 11 points, dished out four assists and grabbed three rebounds, while Dunn added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Longwood shot 39.1% (25-64) from the field, including 36.0% (9-25) on three-pointers, and was 47.6% (10-21) from the charity stripe.
Jacksonville State had two other players finish with double-digit points. Shanika Freeman finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Cobie Carlisle added 12 points. The Gamecocks shot 35.8% (24-67) from the field, including 15.0% (3-20) on three points, and was 68.4% (13-19) at the free throw line.
