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FARMVILLE, Va. – Despite senior point guard Micaela Ellis joining the program's top 10 all-time career assist leaders and fellow senior Autumn Childress matching a Longwood Division I record 18 rebounds, Gardner-Webb escaped past Longwood 61-54 Tuesday afternoon inside Willett Hall.

With Big South top scorer Tierra Huntsman and her 17.3 points per game out of the Runnin' Bulldog lineup, Alexus Hill scored a game-high 17 points with eight coming in the second half to help red-hot Gardner-Webb (12-3, 2-1 Big South) secure its 10th win in its last 11 games. Hill was joined in double figures by Savannah Plentovich, who added 10 points, helping the Runnin' Bulldogs overcame the sixth double-double of the season from Childress, Ellis moving into the program's top 10 in the all-time assists charts and Dayna Rouse scoring a team-high 16 points.

"I'm proud of the ladies," said Longwood head coach Bill Reinson. "The results weren't what we wanted, but the effort today was outstanding. We played solid defense and did a good job rebounding."

Childress, the Big South's leading rebounder this season and ranked among the top 25 in the NCAA, matched the 18 rebounds that Brittani Billups pulled down during the 2011 season against Central Michigan. The 18 rebounds for Childress marks her third game this season in which she has dominated on the glass with 15-plus boards and her seventh game with double figure rebounds.

"I'm coming back from injury so I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things," Childress said. "Rebounding is one of my biggest contributions to the team, so I take it personally to do that every time I step onto the court."

A product of Midlothian, Va., Childress finished the day with 11 points, a career-best four assists and a steal to go along with her 18 boards. She's in the midst of a dynamic senior campaign in which she's the Big South's lone player to average a double-double with 10.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. Her, combined with the emergence of Rouse over Longwood's last four games, have given the Lancers (3-11, 1-2 Big South) a formidable pairing in the frontcourt.

Meanwhile, Childress' classmate Ellis joined Casey Sullivan for 10th place all-time on Longwood's career assist charts, as the 5-5 Ellis finished the day with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 40 minutes. Ellis, who's coming off a Division I record breaking season with 133 assists a season ago, moves to within 56 assists of passing Crystal Smith for the most assists in Longwood's Division I era.

"Caela [Micaela] and I have always been glued at the hip, so to see her succeeding has been great," Childress said. "Senior year, we'll never have the opportunity to do this again, so it just makes it just that much more special to see her do what she can do on the court."

Rouse finished in double figures for the third time in Longwood's last four games, as she led the squad with 16 points while collecting eight rebounds to finish just shy of collecting her first double-double of the season. Since the holiday break, Rouse has provided a spark off the bench averaging 10.2 points per game in the five games since. In that stretch, Rouse has been second on the team in scoring averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting .442 (19-of-42) from the field.

"Autumn Childress was a monster on the glass today and Dayna Rouse had another great game," Reinson said. "We really needed those performances today."

On the heels of the squad's top defensive performance of the season Saturday against Presbyterian, Longwood limited Gardner-Webb to just .362 shooting from the floor. That performance marks the first time this season that the Lancers have had back-to-back performances in limiting the opponent to under .400 shooting.

"We've been trending in the right direction defensively, so that's a good sign," Reinson said. "Had we made a couple of timely shots, this may have had a different outcome."

Up next, the Lancers return to the road, as the squad heads to Asheville, N.C. for the first of two meetings this season against two-time Big South champion UNC Asheville. That game is set for a 2 p.m. opening tip from Kimmell Arena.

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