March 7, 2010

BOX SCORE

FARMVILLE, Va. - The Longwood University women's basketball team fell to Florida Gulf Coast University 74-71 on Sunday evening in Willett Hall in Farmville in the Longwood Tournament championship game. The Lancers were led by freshman Crystal Smith/Richmond (Meadowbrook) who scored a career-high and game-high 28 points (9-18 FG). Fellow freshman Chelsea Coward/Mechanicsville (Hanover) posted her second-straight double-double with 13 points and a career-high and game-high 12 rebounds. Adrianne McNally paced the Eagles with 23 points. Longwood ends the season with a 9-20 record while FGCU improves to 24-6.

The Lancers jumped out to a 9-1 lead with 17:16 remaining in the first half before the Eagles went on a 15-6 run to to take the 16-15 lead with 6:11 remaining in the half. FGCU stayed ahead for the rest of the first half, pulling ahead by as many as seven points at 30-23 with 2:05 remaining before a layup by junior Krystal Garrison/Fredericksburg (Courtland) and a pair of free throws by senior Becky Fernandes/Fort Belvoir (Bishop Ireton) cut the halftime lead to three at 27-30. Crystal Smith scored 12 points (4-6 FG) in the first half and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. Longwood shot 34.5% (10-29) from the floor and only turned the ball over five times.

In the second half, the hosts trimmed the lead to three at 35-32 with 16:49 remaining on a Garrison jumper. The Eagles went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:18 and extended their lead to 13 at 45-32 with 14:31 remaining. Longwood cut the lead to seven at 57-50 with 6:39 remaining but the visitors went on a 11-4 run to push their advantage to 14 at 68-54 with 3:09 remaining. A pair of Coward free throws capped a 7-0 Longwood run to pull the Lancers within seven at 70-63 with 1:14 remaining before a pair of FGCU layups extended the lead to 74-63. Fernandes hit a pair of foul shots with 31 seconds remaining to cut the lead to nine before fouling out with 25 seconds left. Crystal Smith hit the front end of two foul shots and Coward made a layup to cut the lead to six with 20 seconds remaining. Crystal Smith drained a running 35-footer as time expired to make the final score 74-71.

Crystal Smith scored 28 points, the most by a Longwood player this season, while Coward added 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Lancers shot 36.2% (21-58) from the floor, including 33.3% (3-9) on three-point field goals, and 63.4% (26-41) from the foul line. Freshman Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas (La Porte) blocked one shot, giving her 48 blocks on the season, tied for the single-season record at Longwood. The Lancers turned 23 FGCU turnovers in to 30 points.

Fernandes scored 10 points (8-11 FT) in her final game for Longwood. She finished her career with 652 points, 505 rebounds, 376 assists (5th), 224 steals (7th) and 294 made free throws (3rd).

The Eagles were led by McNally with 23 points and Chelsea Lyles with 21 points. FGCU shot 48.0% (24-50) from the floor, including 36.0% (9-25) on three-pointers, and 56.7% (17-30) from the foul line. The visitors outrebounded Longwood 42-35.

Crystal Smith, Coward, Joanna Miller (NCCU), McNally and Ashley Brown (SU) were named to the All-Tournament team. Lyles was named the tournament MVP.