December 7, 2007

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va.-- Longwood University women’s basketball recorded a 70-56 loss to the visiting William and Mary Tribe Friday evening at Willett Hall.  Senior Odessa Williams/Stratford, Conn. (Stratford) had a strong showing in the second half, collecting a game-high 21 points in the final twenty minutes.  The loss snaps a three game winning streak and puts the Lancers at 5-6 on the year, while William and Mary improves to 4-4 overall.  After five games in eight days, Longwood will have an eight day lay-off and will return to action on Saturday, December 15, when they host Gardner-Webb in a 2 p.m. match-up.
    
William and Mary’s leading scorer Kyra Kaylor wasted little time getting started, scoring nine of the Tribe’s first 11 points to give visiting William and Mary a 11-6 lead into the first media timeout.  Freshman Mallory Short/Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) cut William and Mary’s lead to two points with 11:37 left in the half, but the Tribe put together a seven point run, capped by a three pointer from Devin James for the 21-12 lead.  
    
Longwood came right back and put together an 8-0 run over  a four minute span, to cut the deficit to one point after senior Keiva Small/Norfolk (Norview) sunk a jumper with 5:30 left in the half.  The Tribe however closed the half strong and went into the locker room with an 11 point lead, after a 12-4 run in the final four minutes of the first half.
    
William and Mary took advantage of Longwood turnovers early in the second half and went up by as many as 18 with 14:36 left in the game.  Williams recorded Longwood’s next nine points to bring the Lancers within 14 with 10:48 left in the half.  Sophomore Becky Fernandes/Fairfax (Bishop Ireton) played tough defensively, pressuring the Tribe guards up and down the court, forcing three consecutive turnovers and blocking one shot for Longwood.  The tough Longwood defense held William and Mary to no buckets from the field for a four minute span and brought the game back to 14 points on a jumper by Williams with 5:41 left in the game.  The Tribe continued to make shots down the stretch never letting the Lancers get as close as 12 points in the win.
    
Behind Williams’ 21 points, Small recorded 12, while Fernandes finished the game with five steals in 31 minutes of action.  Short led the Lancers on the boards pulling down eight.  Longwood shot 37.7% from the floor and 57.1% from the free throw line while William and Mary shot 41.7% and 57.1% from the stripe.