January 8, 2005
BOX SCORE
Farmville, Va. – Longwood University earned a 67-57 women’s basketball victory over visiting IPFW in Willett Hall this afternoon. The Lancers, who improved to 6-7 on the season, were led by senior forward/center Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) who finished with her seventh double-double of the season, scoring a game and season-high 24 points and grabbing a game-high 19 rebounds. The Mastodons (2-12) were led by Molly Martin who finished with a team-high 11 points. Longwood will be back in action when they welcome Jacksonville State to Willett Hall January 11. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
With the score tied at 8-8 at the 15:11 mark, Longwood scored nine straight-points to hold the 17-8 advantage. Junior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) hit a jumper, sophomore guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty) drained a three-pointer, and Meldere hit a jumper to pull ahead of IPFW. The Mastodons stopped LU’s run and was able to go on a 12-1 run of their own over the next seven minutes to gain their first lead at 20-18. Verea Bibbs capped off IPFW’s run when she converted a three-point play at the 4:38 mark.
The Lancers quickly responded when Amber Mason converted a three-point play of her own to give LU back the lead at 21-20. Meldere then sank two free throws and hit a jumper to push Longwood’s lead to five with 3:20 remaining in the first stanza, but IPFW scored five-straight points to tie the game at 25-25. Longwood scored the final seven out of nine points of the half to go into halftime with the 32-27 lead.
The Mastodons, who held the Lancers scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half, were able to score nine-straight points to take over the lead at 36-32 with 15:27 to play in the game. Freshman guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) made a layup to break LU’s scoreless streak and then Meldere hit a jumper and sank two free throws the give the Lancers back the lead at 38-36.
Two free throws by IPFW’s Jenny Green tied the game again, but a 21-6 run by Longwood over the next five minutes gave the Lancers their largest lead of the game at 59-44 with 4:05 remaining. The Mastodons could not overcome the deficit and Longwood was able to earn the 10-point victory.
In addition to Meldere’s game-highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds, Amber Mason added a season-high 16 points and six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Senior forward/center Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney) added 10 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal. Longwood shot 35.1% (20-57) from the field, including 29.4% (5-17) on three-pointers, and was 73.3% (22-30) from the charity stripe. LU also held the huge 50-33 edge in rebounds, including a 17-7 edge in offensive rebounds.
IPFW also was led by Hilary O’Connell who added 10 points to Martin’s 11. The Mastodons shot 35.0% (21-60) from the floor, including 25.9% (7-27) on three-pointers, and was 80.0% (8-10) from the free throw line.
