ROCK HILL, S.C. – A balanced scoring effort where five players on the Longwood women's basketball team scored at least nine points helped the Lancers hold off a late rally to earn a 63-60 victory over Winthrop Saturday afternoon inside the Winthrop Coliseum.

The win for the Lancers marks the first win in program history in Rock Hill and comes against a Winthrop squad that was picked second among the coaches in the Big South preseason polls at Big South Media Day.

The Lancers (4-9, 1-3 BSC) led by as many as 13 points in the second half, before holding off a late rally where Winthrop got back within a point with just under a minute remaining courtesy of a three-pointer from Aliyah Kilpatrick, who had 15 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Longwood sophomore Micaela Ellis and freshman Kemari Jones helped seal the Lancers' first win in Rock Hill in program history with a pair of free throws within the final 20 seconds of play. Jones and Ellis helped the Lancers ice the game from the free throw line, where Longwood hit 11-of-17 free throws in comparison to a 6-of-15 performance from the Eagles.

Senior Deborah Headen tallied a team-high 12 points and finished 4-of-7 from the floor, while Kyndal Skersick finished with 11 points to score in double figures for the ninth time in the past 11 games.

Jones continued her strong play to finish one point shy of her second career double-double, as she finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Daeisha Brown and Autumn Childress each added nine points, as eight of the nine players who played found the scoring column.

"Overall, today was a great team win," said Longwood head coach Bill Reinson. "Ashlee Jones and Ciarah Bennett gave us a huge lift coming off the bench. Ciarah is very exciting to watch and Ashlee made a couple of big plays. Autumn Childress provided an offensive spark and Deborah Headen provided the senior leadership that we needed."

The freshman pair of Ashlee Jones and Bennett combined for 12 points in the game, providing energy off the bench. In addition, Ellis – who came into the game inside the top-10 in the Big South with 2.8 assists per contest – logged a team-high three assists to mark her seventh game this season with at least three dimes.

Over her past six games, Jones has become a force in the post for the Lancers, averaging 7.8 points to go along with 8.0 rebounds in those contests after averaging just 3.4 points in her first five games. Over the past week, Jones is just short of averaging a double-double, as she finished the week against Charleston Southern and Winthrop with 9.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

"Kemari Jones continues to improve every game," Reinson said. "She was just one point away from another double-double."

For the Eagles (2-11, 1-3 BSC), Kilpatrick scored a game-high 21 points and Jimecheia Banks added a career-high 13 points to finish in double figure scoring.

Longwood utilized a 12-2 run in the final five minutes of the first half to take a three-point advantage into the locker room and extended their lead to 13 points by outscoring the Eagles, 20-10, in the third quarter.

Longwood will look to keep the momentum going, as the squad will have two days to prepare for Coastal Carolina Monday, Jan. 4. The contest, which is set to air live on ESPN3, is set for a 7 p.m., tip inside the HTC Center.

#GoWood