December 29, 2010

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team defeated the College of William and Mary of the Colonial Athletic Association 82-77 on Wednesday evening in Willett Hall in Farmville. The Lancers (3-9) went 20-21 from the foul line, including a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 90 seconds to preserve the victory. Longwood was led by junior Brittanni Billups | Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) with 19 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season while the Tribe (1-9) was paced by Taysha Pye with a game-high 27 points. The Lancers return to action on Sunday, January 2, when they face Morehead State University of the Ohio Valley Conference at 2 p.m. in Morehead, Kentucky.

William and Mary jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before the Lancers went on a 7-0 run over the next 1:44 to lead 7-4 with 15:59 remaining. Longwood trailed 13-11 before they went on a 19-7 run to lead 30-20 with 6:19 remaining in the first half. Billups and freshman Bria White | Silver Spring, Md. (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) each scored seven points during the run. The Tribe cut the lead to three at 32-29 with 4:27 remaining but four free throws by senior Krystal Garrison | Fredericksburg (Courtland) pushed the lead back to seven at 36-29 with 3:33 remaining. The Lancers led 42-38 at halftime. Billups scored 11 points in the first half and while Garrison added 10.

The Tribe went on a 7-0 run in the first 2:56 of the second half to lead 45-42 with 17:04 remaining in the game. The score was tied 57-57 but a layup by sophomore Chelsea Coward | Mechanicsville (Hanover) gave the Lancers the lead for good with 10:11 remaining. Longwood pushed the lead to eight at 68-60 with 6:02 remaining after a steal and layup by sophomore Erin Neal | Durham, N.C. (Hillside). Sophomore Crystal Smith | Richmond (Meadowbrook) pushed the lead to nine at 70-61 with 5:35 remaining. The Tribe went on a 9-2 run over the next 3:13 to the lead to 72-70. Back-to-back layups by junior Mina Jovanovic | Smederevska Palanka, Serbia (Salt Lake CC) and Billups gave the Lancers the 76-70 lead with 1:33 remaining. Longwood scored the final six points at the foul line while limiting the Tribe to one three-pointer and four free throws to win 82-77.

Longwood shot 43.9% (29-66) from the floor, including 28.6% (4-14) from behind the arc, and 95.2% (20-21) from the foul line. It was the first time the Lancers shot over 90% from the foul line since the 2002-03 season. Billups paced the Lancers with 19 points (7-16 FG, 5-5 FT) and 10 rebounds while Garrison scored 14 points (3-10 FG, 6-6 FT). Jovanovic added 11 points (4-4 FG, 3-4 FT) and junior Brittany Jones | Richmond (North Florida) scored 10 points (4-8 FG). Crystal Smith scored eight points with seven assists while Neal dished out seven assists and added five steals, both career highs. Longwood assisted on 20 of their 29 field goals, the most assists in a game this season. The Lancers turned 28 Tribe turnovers in to 30 points and outscored William and Mary 40-24 in the paint.

The Tribe shot 47.2% (25-53) from the floor, including 40% (4-10) from behind the arc, and 79.3% (23-29) from the foul line. Pye paced W&M with 27 points (10-20 FG, 7-11 FT) while Katherine DeHenzel added 19 points and Taylor Hilton contributed 12 points. W&M outrebounded Longwood 37-33 and turned 13 offensive rebounds in to 17 second chance points.