FARMVILLE, Va. – Sophomore Daeisha Brown/Richmond logged her fourth consecutive 20+ point game, as the Longwood University women's basketball team faced a 77-71 setback against in-state opponent the University of Richmond (3-4) on Saturday afternoon at Willett Hall in Farmville. Although Richmond led by as many as 21 points in the second half, Longwood put together a 20-5 run to cut the deficit to just five with less than a minute to play before the Spiders secured the decision. Redshirt-senior Heather Tobeck/La Porte, Texas and sophomore Khalilah Ali/Suffolk added to the offensive effort for the Lancers with 12 points apiece, while Ali paced the squad on the boards with six rebounds. Keri Soppe led the Spiders with a game-high 21 points in the victory. Longwood (3-3) travels to High Point University for its Big South Conference season opener on Friday, December 6 beginning at 7 p.m.

"As we always do, we fought right until the end," said fourth-year head coach Bill Reinson. "Unfortunately, we started a little flat, which put us in a pretty deep hole. We have been doing a great job of starting games with a lot of energy and we'll have to work hard this week to ensure that we come out strong against High Point."

The Spiders hit a deep three in the first seconds of play to open the first half, in which they shot 62% (16-26) from the field. The Lancers made it a one-point game at 6-5 following a jumper from beyond the arc by sophomore Kyndal Skersick/Orlando, Fla. with 18:23 to play in the period. Richmond led by six on three occasions before the Lancers put together an 8-4 spurt that was capped off by a jumper from junior Rianna Frazer/Baltimore, Md. to pull within a bucket once again, this time at 18-15 with 12:52 remaining. The Spiders quickly retaliated, however, using a 14-5 run to take a 32-20 advantage at 7:12. Minutes later, Ali converted on a pair of free throws and sophomore Deborah Headen/Herndon knocked down a pull-up jumper to cut the difference to six at 34-28, but the visitors outscored the Lancers, 10-5, in the final minutes of the half to make it 44-33 at the break.

Coming out of halftime, Richmond earned a steal and five fast points before Tobeck and Ali drained four consecutive free throws to make it 49-37 at 18:39. The teams traded baskets before the Spiders used a 15-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, up 67-46, with less than 12 minutes remaining in the contest. The Lancers would not go quietly, however, as freshman Treasure Avery/Lincolnton hit a big three to spark a 20-5 surge for the home squad to cut the margin to just five with 27 seconds to play. Longwood was unable to come any closer, however, as both sides scored three points to seal the 77-71 decision for Richmond.

With her 20 points, Brown led the team in scoring for the fifth time this season. Skersick rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lancers with 10 points of her own, while Headen added eight. As a team, the Lancers shot 40% (20-50) from the floor, including 29% (5-17) from beyond the arc, and 84% (26-31) from the line.

In addition to Soppe's game-high 21 points, Kristina King totaled 16 and Genevieve Okoro notched 12. Olivia Healy posted a game-best 11 rebounds. As a whole, Richmond shot 52% (28-54) from the field, 44% (8-18) from three-point territory and 68% (13-19) from the foul line.

Saturday's game marked the 17th meeting ever between Longwood and Richmond in the sport of women's basketball. The Spiders hold a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series.