February 9, 2006
BOX SCOREFARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood University women’s basketball team defeated visiting Virginia Union University 69-56 this evening at Willett Hall in Farmville. The win improves the Lancers overall record to 9-15, while the Panthers dropped to 11-11 on the season. Longwood was led by senior forward Ashley Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) who finished with her second-straight double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds; both game-highs. LU will be back in action on Tuesday, February 14 when it plays at Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member Virginia. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.
Longwood controlled the game from the start, building a quick eight point lead at 10-2 with 15:53 remaining in first stanza. A 6-0 run by Virginia Union cut LU’s lead to two, but a fast 9-2 spurt over the next three minutes gave the Lancers their largest lead of the half at 19-10.
The Panthers sliced the Lancers lead to one, 20-19 after LaToya Green hit a jumper, but a 14-6 run gave the Lancers some breathing room at 34-26 with 1:47 remaining in the first half. Longwood’s strength during the run was getting to the foul line, as the Lancers scored 10 of the 14 points from the charity stripe.
Leading 39-32 going into the second half, Longwood quickly built a double-digit lead at 44-34 on two layups and one made free throw by Ashley Mason. Virginia Union was able to get within six-points of the lead, 49-43, at the 10:29 mark, but Longwood scored the next 12 out of 15 points to take its largest lead of the game at 61-46 with 5:00 remaining in the contest. Senior forward Amber Mason/Virginia Beach (Princess Anne) was key to putting the game out of the Panthers reach as she made three steals in which she converted into three fast break layups.
Besides Ashley Mason, Longwood was led by Amber Mason who scored 11 points, dished out three assists, made four steals, blocked two shots and grabbed one rebound. Senior guard Jessica Wilkerson/Roanoke (Northside) dished out a career-high eight assists for the Lancers, while freshman center Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. LU finished the game shooting 41.5% (22-53) from the field, including 29.4% (5-17) on three-pointers and was 80.0% (20-25) from the charity stripe.
Virginia Union was led by Shanell Roberts and Andrea Bellamy, who scored 18 and 12 points, respectively. Roberts also added five rebounds and one steal, while Bellamy chipped in six rebounds, one assist and one block. The Panthers finished the game shooting 37.1% (23-62) from the field, including 21.4% (3-14) on three-pointers, and was 77.8% (7-9) at the free throw line.
