February 25, 2007

BOX SCORE

ATLANTA, Ga.—Longwood women’s basketball fell to ACC member Georgia Tech 75-46 Sunday afternoon at the Alexander Memorial Gymnasium in Atlanta.  The Lancers (8-20) were led by Anna Steg/Fairfax (George C. Marshall) who tallied her second consecutive double-double, sixth of the season, on ten points and ten rebounds.  Georgia Tech (19-10) was led by Stephanie Higgs and Chioma Nnamaka who each finished the game with 17 points.  Longwood will close the season on Tuesday, February 27, when they travel to Kennesaw for a 5 p.m. tip-off with the Owls.  

Georgia Tech took the opening tip and went down the floor to score the opening basket on a jumper by Nnamaka six seconds into the game.  The Yellow Jackets applied pressure off the made basket, forcing a Lancer turnover that was good for two points after Janie Mitchell sunk a jumper.  Longwood continued to struggle offensively and were forced to take a thirty-second timeout with 18:45 to go in the half, after the Yellow Jackets forced a turnover on the defensive end and turned it into two points and a foul for a 7-0 lead.  

Ashleigh Hollman/Centreville (Westfield) tallied Longwood’s first two points of the game on a baseline jumper with 17:25 to go in the half, putting the score at 7-2.  Georgia Tech continued to press on both ends of the court to jump out to a 15 point lead after a 10-0 run midway through the first half.  Courtney Dyer/Richmond (Monacan) ended the five minute Longwood drought, on a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 12 points.  The Yellow Jackets continued to roll and built their lead to 22 points with eight minutes to go in the half.  Claire Blevins/Chantilly (Chantilly) made her presence felt in the line-up, scoring on three of four Longwood possessions within a two minute period to put the score at 39-15 with 3:17 to go on the clock.  Georgia Tech closed the half strong as Nnamaka hit a three-pointer as time expired to give the home squad a 44-20 lead heading into halftime.  At the break Blevins lead the Longwood shooters collecting six points off the bench.  As a team the Lancers shot 34.8% from the field while Georgia Tech shot 46.2%.

The Yellow Jackets pressured the Lancers out of the break and turned another Longwood turnover into a lay-up as Higgs stole the ball at half court and laid it in to start the second half.  Dyer recorded the Lancers’ first bucket of the half hitting a three-pointer with 18:22 to go in the game, putting the score at 46-23.  The Yellow Jackets took over from there catching the Lancers on transition and dominate inside outscoring Longwood 48-16 in the paint.  

Hollman was the Lancers’ only other double-digit figures scoring finishing with ten points.  Blevins finished the game with eight points, tying a career best.  As a team the Lancers shot 36.0% from the field while the Yellow Jackets shot 43.4%.  

“Today was a great example of us maturing as a team, playing our third top 50 team this season,” stated head coach Pamela Bass.  “I was impressed with the development of our assists on the offensive side, but we need to work on our defensive box outs.  “Anna Steg had another strong game inside and Ashleigh Hollman definitely came to play this afternoon.  Claire Blevins was a bonus for us off the bench today.”