December 28, 2005
BOX SCOREBLACKSBURG, Va. – Longwood University dropped a hard-fought 89-70 women’s basketball decision to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member Virginia Tech, who is ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press Poll, in the first round of the Lady Luck Tournament hosted by Virginia Tech. The loss drops the Lancers to 3-9 on the season, while the Hokies improved to 11-0. LU was led by senior forwards Ashley and Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne). Ashley Mason became the 17th player in Longwood women’s basketball history to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau after she scored a game-high 17 points (1,003 total points). Amber Mason added 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Lancers will play Marshall in the consolation contest of the tournament tomorrow, Thursday, December 29. The Thundering Herd lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 69-48 in the first game of the tournament. Game time is slated for 5:00 p.m.
With Virginia Tech leading 4-2 after a layup by Megan Finnerty, Longwood’s junior guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem) drained a three-pointer to give the Lancers a 5-4 edge with 17:26 to play in the first stanza. The Hokies used a 9-0 run over the next six minutes to gain a 13-5 edge. Finnerty scored four points during the run, while Laura Haskins hit a jumper and Brittany Cook drained a three-pointer.
Virginia Tech pushed its lead to nine, 23-14, at the 7:24 mark after a jumper by Dawn Chriss, but Longwood did not go away as they used a 13-4 run to tie the game at 27-27 with 3:50 remaining in the first half. Amber Mason hit back-to-back jumpers, while freshman Nadege Wandeu/Douala, Cameroon (Oak Hill Academy-Va.) made a layup to slice the Hokies lead to three at 25-22. Two free throws by Virginia Tech’s Carrie Mason gave the Hokies a four-point cushion with 4:55 remaining, but two made free throws by sophomore guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) and a three-pointer by sophomore forward Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragdale) put the Lancers back into the contest.
One made free throw by the Hokies Kirby Copeland and Haskins, a three-pointer by Mason and a layup by Britney Anderson gave Virginia Tech some breathing room at 34-27 with less than two minutes remaining before halftime.
Ashley Mason cut the lead to four at 36-32 after she made a layup, but the Hokies used a 7-4 spurt over the final minutes to go into the locker room with a seven-point edge at 43-36.
Virginia Tech used the strength of Copeland in the early minutes of the second half to gain a double-digit lead. After Nara Diawara hit a free throw, Copeland scored 11-straight points for the Hokies to help give them a 16-point advantage at 55-39 with 16:15 to play in the contest.
The Lancers were able to slice the lead to eight points after a layup by Ashley Mason at the 12:48 mark, but a 15-3 run by the Hokies gave Virginia Tech its largest lead of the game at 75-55.
Longwood could not overcome the deficit and dropped the hard-fought 19-point loss to Virginia Tech.
Besides the Mason’s, Longwood was led by Mascherin, who scored nine points and added two rebounds, two blocks and one assist. The Lancers finished the game shooting 45.0% (27-60) from the field, including 36.8% (7-19) on three-pointers, and was 56.3% (9-16) at the charity stripe.
Virginia Tech had three players score in double-digit points, including Copeland and Finnerty who both scored 14 points a piece. Chriss chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Hokies finished the game shooting 47.0% (31-66) from the field, including 36.4% (4-11) on three-pointers, and was 67.6% (23-34) from the free throw line.
