DOVER, Del. – Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year NaJai Pollard scored a game-high 20 points with nine coming in the final quarter to lead Delaware State to a 60-56 lead Wednesday night inside Memorial Hall.
Pollard, who entered Wednesday's contest needing nine points to surpass 1,000 in her career, reached that milestone midway through the third quarter before being honored by the home crowd. A season after pouring in 32 points in Farmville, Pollard, a Richmond, Va., product, finished the night 7-of-12 from the floor adding four rebounds, four blocks and three steals in 36 minutes.
Autumn Childress paced the Lancers with her third double-double in a four-game span with 11 points, 15 rebounds while Mallory Odell scored 12 points to secure her second game in a three-game span in double figures. In that three-game span, the Richmond, Va., product has averaged 8.3 points per game.
"Mallory Odell's development is going to be important for us," Reinson said. "She's still rounding into basketball shape, but she's shown flashes of being a very special player."
Entering Wednesday ranked third in the Big South averaging 8.8 rebounds per game, Childress pulled down 15 boards for the second time in a three-game span after becoming the first Lancer since
Heather Tobeck in the 2013-14 season to grab 15-plus boards in a game.
Childress has enjoyed a strong start to her senior campaign, averaging 11.6 points along with 10.0 rebounds to lead the conference with three double-doubles.
"Autumn Childress continues to be a force on both ends of the floor," Reinson said. "She has been a warrior on the glass all season. After all of her injuries the past few seasons, it's great to see her playing with so much confidence."
Pollard was joined in double figures by Keke Barber, who added 10 points for the Hornets (1-4), while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Longwood (1-4) enjoyed its best defensive performance of the season, limiting Delaware State to .350 from the floor and just .167 (2-of-12) from beyond the arc.
"That was a tough game to lose," Reinson said. "We needed to take better care of the basketball. The girls played extremely hard, but we were loose with the ball and it cost us. We also need to continue to work on closing out games."
In a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes, Longwood held an eight-point second half lead before Pollard and company utilized a 10-2 over a span of just six minutes in the fourth quarter to erase the Lancers' largest lead of the game.
Pollard gave Delaware State the lead for good when she hit a jumper in the paint with just 2:30 remaining on the clock before stretching the lead to four with under a minute to play. A Childress layup with 43 seconds remaining cut the deficit to two points but two made free throws down the stretch handed the Hornets their first win of the season.
Longwood returns to Willett Hall Sunday, Dec. 3 to host Valparaiso. That game has been moved to 2 p.m. from its originally scheduled start time of 12 p.m. and will broadcast on the Big South Network.
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