February 17, 2007

BOX SCORE

NEWARK, N.J.—The Longwood women’s basketball team dropped a tough 50-38 loss at NJIT on Saturday afternoon in Newark, New Jersey.  The Lancers (8-19) were led by Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) who tallied her fifth double-double on 13 points and 14 rebounds while NJIT’s (4-20) Kelly Crowe and Colleen Vogel paced the Highlanders with 12 points apiece.  Longwood will return to action on Sunday, February 25, when they travel to Atlanta for a 2 p.m. tip-off with Georgia Tech.

The Lancers jumped on the scoreboard first, as Steg pulled down an offensive board and out it back through the hoop for the 2-0 lead.  NJIT went up by two after buckets from Crowe and Jill Dickinson, but Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) put the Lancers back up one, sinking a three-pointer with 14:23 to go in the half.  After a pair of made free throws by Steg, the Highlanders took the lead for good capped by a pull up jumper by Crowe forcing Longwood to take its first thirty-second timeout with 9:27 on the clock and the score at 9-7 in the home squads favor. 

Amber Sims/Lawrenceville (Brunswick Senior) hit a free throw at the 8:12 mark to bring the Lancers within one, but it would be the last basket Longwood would hit until the 0:14 mark in the first half.  The Highlanders were able to convert on Longwood’s offensive woes, putting together a 14 point run to grab a 23-9 halftime lead.  Steg led the Lancer shooters at the break with five points.  The Lancers shot for only 11.8% from the floor in the opening half and collected 16 turnovers. 

NJIT picked up where they left off in the opening minute of the second half as Crowe hit a three-pointer to give her NJIT team a 17 point lead.  Longwood however began the uphill battle and battled back in the game, cashing in on the Highlanders mistakes.  Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) brought the deficit within eight points with 12:31 to go in the game, hitting a three-point basket and then a jumper from the left side on the Lancers’ next trip down the floor.  Longwood climbed back to seven after NJIT pushed its lead to 12 with 9:39 to go, on a three-point play by Steg.  That’s as close as Longwood would get as the Highlanders continued to their strong performance offensively. 

Hollman finished the contest with 10 points and four rebounds, while the Lancers shot for 32.5% from the field for the game.