Women's Basketball Wins Third-Straight; Defeats IPFW 69-66 On The Road

Junior Ashley Mason Scores Career-High 30 Points In Victory

February 17, 2005

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Longwood University earned a 69-66 women’s basketball victory over host IPFW in Fort Wayne, Ind., Thursday evening. The Lancers, who improved to 13-12, were led by junior forward Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) who finished with a career and game-high 30 points, along with seven rebounds, and two steals. Verea Bibbs led the Mastodons, who fell to 3-19 on the year, with her double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. LU will play next when they welcome Norfolk State to Willett Hall, Monday, February 21. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.

IPFW jumped out to an early six-point lead at 10-4 when Courtney Nicley hit a three-pointer with 16:11 to play in the first stanza. The Lancers charged back scoring the games next seven points to hold a slight one-point edge. Senior center/forward Marita Meldere/Rujiena, Latvia (Lynchburg Christian) capped off the run when she scored on a layup at the 14:06 mark. The Mastodons went on an 18-10 run of its own over the next 11 minutes to hold a 30-21 lead. Mason closed out the half for the Lancers making two-straight buckets to cut IPFW’s lead to 35-31 at half.

The Lancers opened up the second half scoring the first 11 out of 14 points to recapture the lead at 42-38. The Mastodons sliced into the lead, cutting it to 44-43 on two made free throws by Hilary O’Connell at the 13:55 mark, but the Lancers were able to push their lead to nine with 3:50 to play in the game.

IPFW scored seven-straight points to pull within two points of LU with 1:04 left in the game. Mason then hit two free throws to give Longwood a 66-62 advantage, but IPFW was able to cut it back to one, 67-66, with eight ticks remaining on the clock. Freshman guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) was clutch though, hitting both of her free throws to seal the three-point victory for the Lancers.

Besides Mason, Meldere added 15 points; five rebounds, one assist and one steal for Longwood. The Lancers finished the game shooting 52.0% (26-50) from the field, including 12.5% (1-8) on three-pointers, and hit 64.0% (16-25) of its free throws.

IPFW also got help from Ashley Johnson, who finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four steals. The Mastodons was 37.5% (27-72) from the field, including 22.9% (8-35) on three-pointers, and was 80.0% (4-5) from the charity stripe.

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