December 21, 2006
BOX SCORE
Nashville, Tenn.—Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) pulled up and hit a jump shot just inside the arc with two seconds remaining, to give the Longwood women’s basketball team a 55-53 win over Lipscomb in the consolation game of the Vanderbilt Holiday Tournament. The win snapped a six game skid, and puts the Lancers at 5-9 on the season while Lipscomb falls to 3-8 on the year. Longwood will return to action on Thursday, December 28, when they host Robert Morris at 7 p.m..
“We came to Nashville to get a feel of where we are and what we can do,” stated head coach Pamela Bass. “The team came out both this afternoon and last night and really stepped up to a quality of play we as a staff have been looking for all season.”
Longwood scored the first basket of the game, after winning the tip. Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) put up a shot from the left side to give Longwood an early 2-0 lead. Dana Carrigan gave the Lady Bisons a one point lead, on a three-pointer with 16:42 remaining in the half. The Lancers’ tenacious defense took over for the next six minutes, as Longwood put together an 11-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Hollman to put the score at 15-5 with twelve minute remaining in the half.
Lipscomb and Longwood battled back and forth in the final ten minutes of the first half, and the Lady Bisons were able to cut into the Lancer lead. Lipscomb shutout the Lancers in the final two minutes of the half to grab a 29-27 halftime lead.
Lipscomb built its lead to four points in the opening minutes of the second half, but Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) cut the deficit to one on a three-pointer. Hollman tied the score at 35 1:42 later, hitting her second three-pointer of the game, for the first of four ties in the second half. Dyer gave Longwood the lead on two occasions in the final ten minutes of the game, hitting a three-pointer for a one point lead and later laying in a shot on a fast break with 7:52 to go in the game.
“Courtney’s play in the tournament is just an example of how our players are developing and showing confidence in the system,” explained Bass. “We showed poise and composure down the stretch and to get a defensive stop to end the game was huge for us.”
Longwood was able to go up by eight with 6:09 remaining, but Lipscomb came right back in the final minutes to tie the score at 53 on a pair of foul shots by Catie Woods with 0:17 on the clock. After a Longwood time out the Lancers took the ball down the floor for their final offensive play, where Small put Longwood ahead for good with two seconds remaining. Lipscomb tried to get the ball up the floor but was unable to pull off a shot giving the Lancers the 55-53 win. Small finished the game with 12 points and five boards in the win.
“Keiva was strong all game and took quality shots within the offense to help us pull out the win,” said Bass.
Leading the way for the Longwood offense was Dyer who recorded a game-high 14 points, while Hollman went 3-5 from three point land finishing with 11 points. As a team the Lancers shot 38.1% from the field while Lipscomb shot 30.9%.
