January 5, 2006

BOX SCORE

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Longwood University earned a 70-55 women’s basketball decision over host Charleston Southern this evening in South Carolina. The win improves the Lancers overall record to 4-10, and gives interim head coach Nikki Atkinson her first win in her first game as LU head coach. The Buccaneers dropped their record to 4-7 overall. Longwood was led by the senior trio of Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne), Jessica Wilkerson/Roanoke (Northside) and Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne). Ashley Mason finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Wilkerson chipped in 14 points and Amber Mason added 13 points. The Lancers will be back in action on Saturday, January 7 when they play at Winthrop. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.   

Longwood controlled the game from the tip, taking a 2-0 lead after a layup by Ashley Mason and then extended its advantage to12-6 6:30 into the contest after Wilkerson drained her second three-pointer of the half.

After freshman guard Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) hit a three-pointer at the 13:24 mark to give LU a 15-8 lead, Charleston Southern used an 11-6 spurt to slice the Lancers edge to 21-19. Keena Wicker capped off the Buccaneers run with a jumper at the 8:15 mark.

The Lancers responded with a 10-3 run of their own to gain its first double-digit lead of the contest. Dyer hit one of two free throws to give Longwood the 31-21 advantage with less than 2:30 to play in the first stanza. LU kept the lead over double-digits until Pam Tolbert sank two free throws with five seconds remaining in the half to slice the Lancers halftime advantage to eight points at 35-27.

Longwood began the second half with a jumper by sophomore guard Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview), a layup by Dyer and a three-pointer by junior guard Abigail Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem) which pushed the Lancers advantage to 40-27.

Charleston Southern cut Longwood’s lead to nine, 40-31, after Tolbert hit two-straight buckets, but the Lancers responded with a 15-6 run to push their lead to its largest of the game at 55-37 with 8:53 left in the game. Amber Mason capped off the run for LU scoring six-straight points.

The Buccaneers could not overcome the deficit as Longwood held on to a double-digit lead for the remaining of the contest and earned the 15-point victory.

Besides Ashley Mason, Amber Mason and Wilkerson, the Lancers were led by freshman center Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) and Dyer, who scored eight and six points respectively. Longwood finished the game shooting 48.1% (26-54) from the field, including 38.5% (5-13) on three-pointers, and was 68.4% (13-19) at the charity stripe.

Charleston Southern was led by Wicker who registered a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Tolbert added a game-high 17 points, while Erica McCoy chipped in 16 points. The Buccaneers finished the game shooting 37.3% (22-59) from the field and was 78.6% (11-14) from the free throw line.