January 11, 2007

BOX SCORE

Radford, Va— Longwood women’s basketball dropped a hard fought 61-47 battle at Radford on Thursday evening.  Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) had a career night for the Lancers (5-14), recording a career best 22 points, while the Highlanders were led by Corrie Fertitta’s 13 points.  Longwood will return home for the first time in the new year, taking on Savannah State, Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m..

Radford jumped on the scoreboard first after Kelli Darden hit a pair of free throws, but Abbey Freese/West Liberty, Ohio (West Liberty-Salem)  hit her 25th three-pointer of the season to give the Lancers a 3-2 with 18:52 to go in the half.  The Highlanders controlled the inside early and outscored Longwood for the next two minutes to grab an eight point lead into the first media timeout. 

Longwood came right back and chipped away at the home squad’s lead.  The Lancers were able to bring the game to three, 13-10, after Longwood hit a picture perfect inbound play, taken out by Becky Fernandes/Fairfax (Bishop Ireton).  Fernandes found Small cutting towards the basket and gave her the ball that Small converted to give the Longwood side momentum heading into the final ten minutes of the half. 

The Highlanders and Lancers went back and forth for the next four minutes, as Radford was able to build a seven point lead.  Leigh Mascherin/Greensboro, N.C. (Ragsdale) came off the bench and made her presence felt immediately hitting a three from the left side to cut the RU lead to four 5:05 before the break.  Behind Fertitta’s four points in the final four minutes the Highlanders built a 32-21 halftime lead.  At the break Small led all scorers with ten points, but the home squad of Radford controlled the boards grabbing 26 rebounds and getting 14 of their 32 points on second chances in the first twenty minutes.

The Lancers came out of the halftime break strong, as the combo of Small and Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) got the offense going both inside and around the perimeter.  Steg played Radford’s post players hard in the early goings of the half, bringing the Lancers within seven, on six consecutive points forcing Radford to take a thirty second timeout at the 16:23 mark with the score 36-29. 

After Radford built a nine point lead on a three-point play by Fertitta, Longwood’s defense clamped down.  Small hit a jumper and the Lancers forced a Highlander turnover to gain possession that they converted on.  Steg took a back door pass from Fernandes to put the score at 44-39 with 10:35 to play in the game.

Sarah Stephens hit back-to-back jumpers to give Radford a nine point cushion on Radford’s following two possessions.  The Lancers fought hard on the offensive end for rebounds and were able to pull down three offensive rebounds before Amber Sims/Lawrenceville (Brunswick Senior) sunk a put back to bring Longwood back within seven with 7:45 to go in the game.  The Lancers were unable to get any closer, as Radford pushed down the stretch and Shavon Earp hit a three-pointer to give the home squad a 14 point lead with under three minutes to go in the game and Longwood was unable to recover.

Behind Small’s 22 points, the inside game of Steg and Sims finished the game with eight points and combined for 19 rebounds.  Steg led Longwood on the boards grabbing 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive side while Sims grabbed eight of her own.  Both Steg and Small went the distance each logging a full forty minutes, both career highs. 

“Keiva was excellent on both sides of the ball tonight,” said head coach Pamela Bass.  “She brought intensity to the defensive side and attacked the basket on the offensive end.  Keiva has the ability to affect the team with her energy and she did that tonight.  Anna was also huge for us inside, both on the boards and defensively blocking Radford’s shot attempts.  Amber gave us a spark off the bench that helped throughout the game and down the stretch.”

From the field, the Lancers hit 20-50 shots for a 40.0% field goal percentage while Radford went 37.9% from the floor.  Longwood closed the rebound gap also in the second half 20-24, finishing the game with 35, while the Highlanders grabbed 40.

“Our team brought a tremendous amount of energy, passion and focus against a tough Radford team who will make noise in the Big South this year,” stated Bass.  “This was a great game down the stretch and really showed the growth of our program.  I’m looking for the team to take this intensity and energy with them to Willett for Sunday’s match-up with Savannah State.”