January 26, 2005
BOX SCORE
ELON, N.C. – Longwood University earned a 57-51 women’s college basketball victory over Southern Conference member Elon in North Carolina this afternoon. The Lancers (8-9) were led by junior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) and senior forward/center Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) who both finished with double-doubles. Amber Mason scored a game-high 14 points and added 11 rebounds, while Meldere scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Brianne Gray led the Phoenix (2-16) with her team-high 12 points. LU will be back in action when they welcome Texas Pan-American to Willett Hall Friday, January 28. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
Longwood jumped out to an early 6-0 lead off of two-straight baskets by Meldere and a jumper by Amber Mason. Elon cut the score to 6-5, but a layup by senior center/forward Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney) pushed the Lancers advantage to three with 13:49 to play in the first half.
An 11-2 run by the Phoenix, which Jessica Williams capped off with a three-pointer, gave host Elon a 16-10 lead with 6:49 left before halftime. LU charged back and closed out the first stanza scoring 14 points, while limiting EU to only five, to hold a 24-21 edge.
The Phoenix was able to tie the game at 31-31 off a layup by Kitara McMoore at the 12:56 mark of the second half, but the Lancers rattled off three-straight buckets to hold a six-point advantage at 37-31 with 10:19 left on the clock.
An 11-4 spurt by Elon over the next five minutes gave EU back the lead at 42-41, but Amber Mason sank two free throws; while Ashley Mason made a layup and sank two free throws of her own to give Longwood back the lead at 47-42 with 1:56 remaining in the contest.
EU’s Gray made a layup at the 1:20 mark to cut the score to 47-43, but a crucial three-pointer by freshman guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) at the one-minute mark gave LU some breathing room at 50-44. The Lancers would then convert seven of 10 free throws down the stretch to earn the six-point victory.
Besides Amber Mason and Meldere, Ashley Mason and Small who scored 12 and eight points, respectively, helped the Lancers to victory. Small also added eight rebounds, with Ashley Mason grabbed five. LU shot 33.9% (20-59) from the field, including 26.7% (4-15) on three-pointers, and was 59.1% (13-22) from the charity stripe.
Besides Gray, McMoore added nine points and six rebounds, while Williams added eight points and three rebounds for Elon. The Phoenix finished the game shooting 32.3% (20-62) from the field, including 22.7% (5-22) from the three-point arc, and sank 35.3% (6-17) of its free throws.
