December 18, 2010

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team dropped a 79-69 at Virginia Commonwealth University of the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday afternoon in Richmond. The Lancers (2-7) led 36-30 at halftime in a game that saw 10 ties and 10 lead changes. Longwood was led by sophomore Crystal Smith | Richmond (Meadowbrook) with 18 points (6-12 FG) and five assists while freshman Bria White | Silver Spring, Md. (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) added 14 points. The Rams (4-4) were led by Courtney Hurt with a game-high 31 points and 16 rebounds. Longwood returns to action on Tuesday, December 21, when it hosts IPFW of the Summit League at 4 p.m. in Willett Hall in Farmville.

The teams played evenly to start the game before VCU slowly built a 15-10 lead after a pair of free throws by Jessica Taylor with 11:43 remaining in the first half. White drained a three-pointer and senior Krystal Garrison | Fredericksburg (Courtland) added a layup to tie the game at 15-15 less than a minute later. The Rams pushed the lead to five at 22-17 after a pair of free throws by Hurt with 7:40 remaining in the half, but Longwood went on a 19-8 run to take a 36-30 lead in to halftime. Smith scored seven points during the run.

VCU opened the second half with an 8-2 run over the first 90 seconds to tie the game at 38-38. The teams traded baskets and the lead until the 10th tie of the game at 50-50 with 13:26 remaining. The Rams took the lead for good on a layup by Sonia Johnson with 13:07 remaining. VCU pushed the lead to four, but a layup by junior Brittanni Billups | Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) cut the lead to two at 54-52 with 12:24 remaining. VCU led 67-57 after a pair of free throws by Hurt with 5:09 remaining, but the Lancers went on a 10-4 run to trim the lead to four at 71-67 after a three-pointer by freshman Emilee Dunton | Forest (Brookville) with 3:21 remaining. Hurt made a layup, but Dunton answered to keep the game within four points at 73-69 with 2:37 remaining. VCU scored the final six points to win 79-69.

Longwood shot 40.8% (29-71) from the floor, including 27.3% (6-22) from behind the arc, and 62.5% (5-8) from the foul line. Crystal Smith led the Lancers with a season-high 18 points and five assists. White added 14 points and Billups finished with 12 points (6-11 FG). Sophomore Heather Tobeck | La Porte, Texas (La Porte) grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and added two blocks. The Lancers received 42 points from their bench, with Crystal Smith and White scoring 32 of them. Longwood dished out a season-best 18 assists.

VCU shot 38.3% (23-60) from the floor, including 40% (4-10) from behind the arc, and 78.4% (29-37) from the foul line. Hurt had game-bests of 31 points (9-22 FG, 13-16 FT) and 16 rebounds while Johnson added 18 points and Jessica Taylor scored 13 points. VCU outrebounded Longwood 46-41 and scored 15 second chance points.