January 28, 2006
BOX SCORE
Fort Wayne, Ind. – Longwood University earned an 82-77 women’s basketball victory over IPFW this afternoon at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. The win improves the Lancers record to 7-14 and breaks a three-game losing skid, while the loss drops the Mastodons overall record to 2-17. Longwood was led by senior forward Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) who scored a career-high 34 points and added nine rebounds, three assists and one block. Longwood will be back in action on Wednesday, February 1 when they welcome Big South Conference member Liberty to Willett Hall. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
It was a closely played game over the first seven minutes of the contest, with neither team able to pull ahead by more than three points, but with IPFW leading 17-16 at the 14:07 mark, Longwood used an 8-2 run to capture a five-point advantage at 24-19 with 11:35 remaining in the first half. The Mastodons were able to cut the Lancers lead to one using a quick 4-0 spurt, but Longwood responded scoring the next 12 out of 13 points of the game to gain a double-digit lead at 35-25 at the 6:37 mark. Freshman center Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) capped off the run hitting two free throws.
Longwood continued to keep IPFW at bay and pushed its lead to 13, its largest of the half, after Ashley Mason sank two free throws with 1:26 remaining before halftime. Julian Hohne of IPFW hit two free throws to cut the Lancers halftime lead to 44-33.
Longwood continued to hold its lead above double-digits in the second stanza, including a 15-point advantage; its largest of the game, at the 12:02 mark. Steg gave the Lancers their biggest lead at 61-46 after she made a layup on an assist by senior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne).
With the score 66-52, IPFW slowly started to chip away at the lead. The Mastodons used a 7-0 spurt to cut the Lancers advantage to seven with 6:40 remaining. Longwood responded with a jumper by sophomore guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) to put LU up by nine, 68-59, but two free throws by IPFW’s Pavla Pletkova and two-straight buckets by Ashley Johnson put the score at 68-65 with 5:50 left in the game.
IPFW cut Longwood’s lead to three, two more times in the closing minutes, but with the score 74-71, Dyer drained a three-pointer and junior guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem) made one of two free throws to give the Lancers some breathing room at 78-71 with 48 seconds remaining.
The Mastodons would not go away as Nanyamka Moore drained a three-pointer to put the score at 78-74. Senior guard Jessica Wilkerson/Roanoke (Northside) hit a free throw, but Johnson converted a three-point play for IPFW to cut Longwood’s advantage to two, 79-77, with 18 seconds remaining. Freese was clutch for the Lancers down the stretch though as she hit three of four free throws to help secure the five-point victory for LU.
Besides Ashley Mason, who was 94% (15-16) from the field and 80.0% (4-5) at the charity stripe, the Lancers were led by Dyer and Freese who scored 11 and nine points, respectively. Longwood finished the game shooting 47.6% (30-63) from the field, including 31.3% (5-16) on three-pointers and was 58.6% (17-29) from the charity stripe.
IPFW was led by Johnna Lewis-Carlisle and Johnson who scored 19 and 16 points, respectively. The Mastodons finished the game shooting 38.1% (24-63) from the field, including 20.0% (4-20) on three-pointers and was 78.1% (25-52) from the free throw line.
