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FARMVILLE, Va. – A program-record 15 assists from junior guard Micaela Ellis, along with 21 points from Kate Spradlin and a total of five double figure scorers led Longwood to an 83-78 win over Winthrop Saturday afternoon inside Willett Hall.

Longwood's lone captain in 2016-17, Ellis broke Longwood's 30-year assists record previously held by Caren Forbes with her career-high 15 assists, as she also added 13 points to secure her first career double-double. With her 15 assists, Ellis surpassed Forbes 13 assists with less than a minute on the clock on a feed to Eboni Gilliam.
It marks the second time in Ellis' career that she has finished with 10-plus assists, both coming this season against Winthrop.

"Micaela Ellis earned every bit of that school-record 15 assists," Longwood head coach Bill Reinson said. "She made great decisions all day long. It also helped that she found people who were making shots."

Ellis had 15 of Longwood's season-high 24 assists, leading a balanced Lancer effort and assisting on baskets to four different players to lead to 35 points. Over Longwood's last six games, Ellis has averaged 9.8 assists per game, compared to just 3.0 turnovers to record a 6.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.  

"A lot of the credit for my assists goes to Kate [Spradlin] and my other teammates," Ellis said. "Kate played great and made a lot of big shots for us. When she started to heat up, we told her to keep going, keep shooting."

Kate Spradlin was the main beneficiary of Ellis' program-record 15 assists with six of her seven three-pointers coming off a feed from the Longwood captain. Spradlin did most of her damage in the early portion of the fourth quarter to put the Lancers on her back, making three-pointers on three straight possessions in a span of 64 seconds to extend a Longwood lead to 11 points, 75-64.

Spradlin finished one point shy of her career-high with 21 points on a career-best 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. The 20-point game from Spradlin marks her second of the season and she joins Eboni Gilliam as the only players on the squad to post two 20-point games.

"After I hit the first couple of shots, my teammates told me to keep shooting," Spradlin said. "That gave me a lot of confidence to just let it fly."

Ashlee Jones finish the afternoon with a career-high for the second straight game, as she scored 11 of her 13 points in the opening half. Jones has averaged 12.0 points per contest over the last two games. In addition, Eboni Gilliam finished one point shy of her third 20-point game this season, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds. Gilliam also added two steals in 34 minutes of action. Kemari Jones added 10 points with five boards.

"Kate Spradlin had a terrific shooting night and Ashlee Jones was very good coming off the bench," Reinson said. "Eboni had a solid outing and Kemari did the dirty work."

The five double figure scorers helped the Lancers shoot .422 (27-of-64) from the field, including 11 made three-pointers to match a season-high.

The win for Longwood (4-19, 1-11 Big South) snaps an 11-game losing skid and earns the Lancers a season split with the Eagles. Meanwhile, Winthrop (2-22, 1-11 Big South) drops its fifth straight.

"The ladies have been working so hard, it was good to see them rewarded with a win," Reinson said. "We had to overcome a monster game from Erica Williams, but we were able to stay together and finish it off."

Williams poured in a game-high 35 points for the Eagles, finishing 13-of-19 from the floor, while stuffing the stat sheet with nine rebounds, six assists and five steals in 36 minutes. She finished as one of two Eagles in double figures, as Angela Coello Perez added 12 points in the loss.

The herculean effort from Williams wasn't enough for an Eagle squad that shot .460 (29-of-63) from the floor and made six three-pointers.

"This was a good team win," Reinson said. "We still need to get better defensively, so we will continue to work in that area, but it was great to see the ladies smiling after the game. It's been a long time between wins."

Longwood will look to continue its momentum and win its second straight Tuesday, Feb. 14, as the Lancers host Radford inside Willett Hall. The game is set for a 7 p.m., opening tip.

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