November 18, 2006

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va.-- The Longwood women’s basketball team continued to roll in Saturday afternoon’s Lancer Invitational championship game beating North Florida 52-45.   The Lancers improve to 3-0 on the year, while UNF falls to 1-2.  Longwood will head to Williamsburg, Va. Tuesday to take on William and Mary for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
    
The Lancers were able to jump out to a 9-4 lead after senior Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) took a pass from freshman Becky Fernandes/Fairfax (Ireton) and put in a three-point shot for the five-point lead with 13:31 remaining.  North Florida came storming back to cut the Longwood lead to one on a pair of free throws by Tiffany Williams with 10:30 to go in the half.  Longwood built a seven point lead with two minutes to go on a three point play by junior Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview).  Small was fouled as she went up for a lay-up by the Ospreys’ Antoinette Reames, but hit both the lay-up and foul shot for the Lancers’ biggest lead of the half.  North Florida’s Willonda Windham brought the Ospreys within five at the break on a lay-up in the paint with three seconds to go.  Hollman led both teams in points at the break posting 11.  
    
“Ashleigh is playing like there is no tomorrow,” said head coach Pamela Bass.  “She is playing with the team on her mind rather than an individual and that is a great reflection on her character.”
    
Longwood came out of the break and dominated the opening minutes of the second half going on a 10-3 run, started by senior Abbey Freese’s/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem) three pointer just three minutes in.  UNF cut the Longwood lead to six two minutes later, but Freese once again came up with a big shot from behind the arc to push the Lancers’ lead back to nine with eleven minutes to go in the game.  
    
Sophomore Amber Sims/Lawrenceville (Brunswick Senior) hit back-back-to-back jumpers with 2:24 remaining to give Longwood a 48-39 edge.  The Ospreys tried to make a run late, but got as close as four down with less than a minute remaining.  Tournament MVP Hollman, finished with a game high 15 points and five assists while Sims tacked on 12 of her own and grabbed a team high six boards.
    
“This was an overall team win,” stated Bass.  “Once again our seniors led by example and the rest of the team followed.  We were able to execute down the stretch and make North Florida make costly turnovers.”
    
In the consolation game earlier in the afternoon, NJIT took a 91-70 victory over Norfolk State.  Kelly Crowe and Katie Piekielski led the Highlanders with 19 and 18 points while Areya Walker tallied a team high 13 points for the Spartans.  The All-Tournament team was also announced after the championship game as Crowe, UNF’s Shandrea Moore and Antoinette Reames and Longwood’s Small and Hollman each nabbed a spot on the team.  Hollman was later announced as the tournament MVP finishing the weekend with 26 points and five assists in 80 minutes of time.