November 25, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C.—The Longwood women’s basketball team could not overcome a fifteen point halftime deficit in Saturday afternoon’s 79-63 loss to North Carolina A&T in the consolation game of the UNC Greensboro Thanksgiving Tournament. Longwood is now 3-3 on the season while NC A&T stands at 2-4. The Lancers will host Campbell on Tuesday November 28, at 5 p.m..
Longwood battled back from the start, as the Lancers found themselves down by five, four minutes in after the Aggies’ Amber Bland hit a shot from behind the arc. Junior Odessa Williams/Stratford, Conn. (Stratford) brought Longwood within one on a jump shot from the right wing. Williams tallied eight of Longwood’s first 15 points, making her presence in the paint felt.
Longwood continued to come from behind and brought the deficit within two on a three-pointer by senior Abbey Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem). The Aggies took over from there, going on a 20-7 run to close out the first half. Senior Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) hit a three with 1:41 to go in the half to bring the Aggie lead to 37-28, but A&T shut out the Lancer offense for the final 1:30, going into the break with a 43-28 lead. Williams led Longwood at halftime scoring 14 points and grabbing four rebounds.
“A&T came out and worked hard the entire game,” stated head coach Pamela Bass. “Our game plan was to win the boards and we were unable to execute that. Amber Bland played outstanding today. She was the first true scorer with a complete offensive game that we faced this season. It was a great defensive challenge for us.”
The Aggies kept rolling in the second half and built a lead to as many as 30 points with 6:29 to go in the game. Longwood showed no quit, fighting back to close the game on a 20-9 run. Sophomore Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) got things going for Longwood hitting a three and then a jumper and foul shot the next time down the floor. Junior Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragsdale) hit two big three’s off the bench, finishing the game with six points.
“We need to play 40 of Longwood basketball,” explained Bass. “We have been closing strong but we put ourselves in such a hole in the beginning its hard to get out of. We have another big week ahead of us playing Campbell on Tuesday and heading to Ohio for the weekend to playing the top ten Buckeyes and Wright State.”
Offensively, Williams recorded a season high 21 points and a team high seven rebounds. Hollman recorded nine points while freshman Becky Fernandes/Farifax (Bishop Ireton) contributed nine of her own in the loss.
