Box Score

CLINTON, S.C. – The Longwood University women's basketball team led by three points with six minutes left in the game before being outscored, 23-11, the rest of the way to fall, 71-62, at the hands of Big South Conference opponent Presbyterian College (10-6, 5-0) on Thursday evening in Clinton, S.C. Four Lancers posted double-figures in the outing, paced by senior Chelsea Coward|Mechanicsville with 19 points. Next up, Longwood (6-9, 3-1) makes the short trip to fellow Big South member Charleston Southern University on Saturday, January 12 for a 2 p.m. tilt.

Presbyterian scored the first bucket of the game, but Longwood answered with six straight points to take a 6-2 advantage with 15:23 to play in the first half. PC came from behind to knot the game at 6-6 and the teams alternated points, tying the score twice more before the Blue Hose used a 12-2 run to pull ahead, 22-12, with 7:38 left to play in the first half. Brown ended the Lancers' drought by converting on a free throw attempt, making it a nine-point game. Presbyterian would take its largest lead of the half, up 28-15, with 4:39 remaining in the period. The teams traded baskets in the final minutes of the half, as PC maintained at least a nine point margin, until Brown sunk a layup with four seconds on the clock to send the Lancers into the break down eight at 35-27.

Coming out of halftime, senior Mieke Elkington|Hamilton, New Zealand hit a layup and senior Crystal Smith|Richmond knocked down the Lancers' first three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to one possession, at 35-32 with 17:03 left to play in the outing. PC retaliated with five consecutive points of its own to regain its eight-point buffer, taking a 40-32 advantage with just over 16 minutes remaining. Senior Erin Neal|Durham, N.C. banked in a layup to spark a 9-1 Lancer run and make it a one-point game, at 42-41 with 12:46 still to go. The Blue Hose converted on a jumper, but Williams followed with a deep three to tie the game at 44-44 with 11:42 to play.

The Lancers pulled ahead on a jumper from beyond the arc by Coward, taking a 49-46 advantage with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Lancers led for their last time in the contest at 53-51, thanks to a layup from Coward, before PC scored seven in a row to pull away, up 58-53, with 3:31 to go. Longwood pulled within a basket on two occasions, but Presbyterian outscored LU, 11-5, in the final minutes to secure the 71-62 victory.

In addition to her 19 points, Coward added a team-high nine rebounds in the outing. Brown was second on the team with 11 points, while Smith and Neal tallied 10 points apiece. Neal's point total marked a new season-high for the veteran guard. As a team, the Lancers shot 34% (21-61) from the floor, including 39% (5-13) from beyond the arc, and 83% (15-18) from the line.

Dria David led three double-digits scorers for Presbyterian with 22 points, in addition to notching a game-high 13 boards. Mariah Pietrowski and Shonda Burnside added 16 points each. As a whole, the Blue Hose shot 55% (27-49) from the field, 42% (5-12) from three-point territory and 63% (12-19) from the foul line. Presbyterian will play its next contest at home against Radford on Jan. 12 beginning at 5 p.m.

Thursday's game marked the fifth meeting ever between Longwood and Presbyterian in the sport of women's basketball. Longwood still holds a 4-1 record in the all-time series.