February 14, 2005
BOX SCORE
FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University women’s basketball team extended its home winning-streak to six games with a 77-47 victory over visiting Virginia Union University this evening at Willett Hall. The Lancers, who also improved to 12-12 on the season, were led by senior center/forward Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) who finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds; both game-highs. Junior forward Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) also chipped in a season-high 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Panthers, who dropped to 11-11 on the season, were led by LaToya Green with her 18 points, four rebounds, and one block. LU will be back in action Thursday, February 18 when they play at IPFW. Game time is slated for 8:00 p.m.
The Lancers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead at the 17:31 mark off of two layups by Meldere and a three-pointer by junior guard Jessica Wilkerson/Roanoke (Northside). The Panthers cut LU’s advantage to three, 10-7, when Andrea Bellamy converted a three-point play, but a 14-5 run by Longwood pushed its lead to 24-12 with a little less than nine minutes to play in the first half. Wilkerson capped off the run sinking her second three-pointer of the half. Virginia Union fought back and slashed the lead to 26-19 when Shanell Roberts drained a three-pointer of her own at the 4:03 mark. The Lancers closed out the half with a 9-3 run, including a last second three-pointer by Mason, to go into the locker room with a 38-16 lead.
Longwood began the second half scoring 12 out of the first 16 points to blow the game open and hold a 24-point cushion, 50-26, at the 15:20 mark. Green hit a three-pointer for Virginia Union to cut LU’s lead to 20, but the Lancers kept pressing and bumped the score up to 70-38 on back-to-back three-pointers by freshman guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) and sophomore guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem).
Besides Meldere, who also added three assists, two blocks and two steals, the Lancers were also led by freshman forward Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragsdale) who finished with a career-high 11 points on 4-9 shooting, including 3-7 from behind the three-point arc. Mascherin also added two rebounds and two steals. Senior forward/center Catherine Dunn/Aberdeen, N.J. (St. John Vianney) added eight points and 10 rebounds, while Small dished out a game-high six assists and grabbed five rebounds, to go along with her three points. Longwood shot 42.9% (27-63) from the field, including 44.0% (11-25) on three-pointers, and hit 75.0% (12-16) of its free throws.
Along with Green, VUU was also led by Pria Stellmacher and Racquel Jeffress who both scored eight points. The Panthers shot 23.9% (17-71) from the field, including 22.2% (6-27) from behind the three-point arc, and sank 87.5% (7-8) of its free throws.
