February 26, 2010

BOX SCORE

DURHAM, N.C. - The Longwood University women's basketball team fell at North Carolina Central 74-66 on Friday evening in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium in Durham, North Carolina.  The teams traded the lead 11 times in the game with the score tied nine times. The Lancers (8-19) were led by sophomore Brittanni Billups/Goldsboro, N.C. (Eastern Wayne) with 16 points and eight rebounds while freshman Chelsea Coward/Mechanicsville (Hanover) added 14 points. NCCU (10-16) was led by Joanna Miller with a game-high 27 points. Longwood returns to action on Saturday, March 6, when they host NCCU in the first round of the Longwood Tournament in Willett Hall in Farmville at 4:30.

The Lancers jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 18:17 remaining in the first half. The hosts went on a 9-2 run to tie the score at 9-9 with 15:00 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets and neither team pulled ahead by more than three points for the rest of the first half. The Lancers went in to halftime leading 36-34. Longwood outrebounded NCCU 26-17 in the first half and scored 14 second chance points. Billups had 10 points and five rebounds at halftime.

Longwood fell behind with 18:06 remaining in the game after NCCU nailed a three-pointer. The hosts pushed the lead to nine with 13:12 remaining. Freshman Erin Neal/Durham (Hillside), playing in front of her hometown crowd, hit a layup to cut the lead to three at 51-48 with 8:42 remaining but the Eagles went on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 14 at 62-48 with 6:00 left in the game. The Lancers went on a run of their own, scoring the next 11 points, including back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Lindsey Martin/Mechanicsville (Atlee) and another by freshman Crystal Smith/Richmond (Meadowbrook) to cut the lead to 62-59 with 3:41 remaining. The Eagles' Blaire Houston hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five at 64-59 but Billups answered with a jumper to cut the deficit to three with 2:37 remaining. Houston made a layup but Neal answered to keep the score within three at 66-63 with 1:29 remaining. The hosts slowly pulled away, going 6-for-8 from the foul line in the final 90 seconds to make the final score 74-66.

Billups paced Longwood with 16 points (6-15 FG, 4-6 FT) and eight rebounds. She added two blocks and two assists. Coward scored 14 points (5-11 FG) with six rebounds and two blocks. Neal finished with eight points and four steals while Martin also added eight points. Freshman Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas (La Porte) added seven points with seven rebounds and two blocks. Longwood shot 43.3% (26-60) from the floor, including 31.8% (7-22) from three, and 46.7% (7-15) from the foul line. Longwood turned the ball over 23 times which the Eagles turned in to 21 points. Senior Becky Fernandes/Fort Belvoir (Bishop Ireton) dished out a game-high six assists.

The Eagles were led by Miller with 27 points. Latoya Bennett recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds and five steals. Houston added 18 points with three assists and three steals. NCCU shot 43.3% (26-60) from the floor, including 25.0% (4-16) from three, and 60.0% (18-30) from the foul line. Longwood turned 18 NCCU turnovers in to 19 points. The Eagles outscored Longwood in the paint 36-26. The hosts outrebounded Longwood 40-38, including 23-12 in the second half.