Games 1-4: Carolina Classic
Date	February 19-21, 2016
Teams	Longwood, Ohio, South Carolina, UNCG, Winthrop
Location	Columbia, S.C.
Game Notes	Longwood | South Carolina
Season Statistics	Longwood (2015) | Ohio (2015) | UNCG | Winthrop | South Carolina
Live Stats	South Carolina Live Stats
Video	SEC Network Plus / WatchESPN (South Carolina Game Only)
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodSB

Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 19
12 p.m. - Ohio vs. Longwood
2:30 p.m. - Longwood vs. UNCG
5 p.m. - UNCG at South Carolina

Saturday, Feb. 20
10 a.m. - UNCG vs. Ohio
12:30 p.m. - Ohio at South Carolina
3 p.m. - Winthrop vs. UNCG
5:30 p.m. - Winthrop vs. Longwood

Sunday, Feb. 21
10 a.m. - Ohio vs. Winthrop
12:30 p.m. - Longwood at South Carolina
3 p.m. - Winthrop at South Carolina

Leading Off
• Longwood opens its 2016 slate at the Carolina Classic, where the squad will compete in four games over the three-day span.
• The Lancers have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success under head coach Kathy Riley. Under Riley's tutelage, the blue and white has had 17 winning seasons with two seasons at .500. Riley has never post­ed a season under .500 in her Longwood career.?
• Junior southpaw Elizabeth McCarthy was tabbed the Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the league's coaches. McCarthy has posted a pair of 20-win campaigns over her first two seasons in blue and white.
• For the first time in its four seasons in the Big South, Longwood was tabbed to capture the league title. The Lancers won the regular season championship in 2015 and captured the 2013 and 2015 Big South Tournament Title.
 
By The Numbers
• Entering its ninth season playing at the Division I level, Longwood has never posted a season below the .500 mark. In those nine seasons, the Lancers have won at least 30 games in five seasons, including five of the past six seasons.
• Longwood will play perhaps its most daunting schedule in school history. The Lancers will face four teams that hosted 2015 NCAA Regionals, including a combined five games against Women's College World Series semifinalists Auburn and LSU.
• In addition, the Lancers will play 16 games against 10 teams that participated in the 2015 NCAA Regionals.
• For the first time since joining the Big South, Longwood was tabbed to win the league. Despite capturing two Big South Championships in its three previous sea­sons in the Big South, the Lancers have never entered the season as the league favorite before this season.
• Junior southpaw Elizabeth McCarthy was tabbed 2016 Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the league's nine head coaches. McCarthy, who was named 2015 Big South Pitcher of the Year, has captured at least 20 victories in her first two seasons with Longwood.
• Longwood returns five players who were named to Big South All-Conference last season. Elizabeth McCarthy, Justina Augustine and Emily Murphy were each named First-Team All-Big South, while Kelsey Sweeney and Glenn Walters were each named to the second-team.
• Longwood softball head coach Kathy Riley enters her 19th season leading the program. Longwood's all-time winningest coach, Riley has amassed 578 victories at Longwood and more than 600 in her 22-year career at Longwood and Mount Olive.
• Longwood softball signed two players to National Letters of Intent during the fall signing period. The Lancers signed Yorktown, Va., product Destiny Martinez and Abingdon, Va., native Leanna Toler.
 
Previewing the Carolina Classic
• Longwood will open its 2016 slate at the Carolina Classic. The Lancers will play four games during the three-day tournament, including a contest on SECN+.
• The Lancers open the tournament Friday against Ohio and UNCG. Similar to Longwood, Ohio will be playing their first game of the season when each of the two teams meet. Meanwhile, UNCG posted a 4-1 record during its opening weekend with wins against then No. 23 NC State and Kansas -- who was receiving votes in the NFCA Top-25 Coaches Poll.
• Longwood's game Saturday will see the squad face a familiar foe in Winthrop in a non-conference game. It will mark just the third time the two teams will have played in a non-conference in the series history going back to 2009.
• The blue and white will play the first of 10 NCAA Tournament teams on its schedule Sunday in their finale against host South Carolina. The two teams met last season on opening weekend with the Gamecocks pulling out a pair of victories at the Pirate Classic.

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