RICHMOND, Va. – VCU guard Tera Reed paced three Ram double figure scorers with 15 points to lead VCU past the Longwood women's basketball team 84-55 in a Friday morning tip inside the Siegel Center.
 
Reed scored nine of her game-high 15 points in the second half and was joined in double figures by Sydnei Archie and Taya Robinson with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Embarking on a new era under with head coach Rebecca Tillett being named the program's eighth head coach, Tillett made her Longwood debut Friday after four seasons at Navy and leading the Midshipmen to back-to-back 20-win seasons and berths into the Women's National Intercollegiate Tournament [WNIT].
 
"We first regrouped and talked about the positives from this game," Tillett said. "We only turned the ball over 14 times and we were able to get to the line. I also liked that a couple kids played tough from the start to the end."
 
Longwood was unable to slow down the Rams' offensive attack in the opening half, as VCU poured in .514 (18-of-35) of its field goals while using its defense to limit the Lancers to 4-of-31 (.129) from the floor.
 
"Defensively, we have to get a lot better," Tillett said. "We can't allow teams to shoot the ball that well against us. We had some worries coming in about their pace and how they'd move the ball effectively against us. It took us too long to react to that and defend."
 
Archie paced the Rams (2-0) with 11 of her 13 points in the first half, as VCU overcame a team-high 14 points from Longwood leading scorer Stephanie Guihon while Dayna Rouse scored seven of her 11 points in the second half and Mallory Odell finished with 10 points.
 
"One thing I like about Mallory is that she won't back down, whether it's on the court, in the classroom or in the weight room," Tillett said. "She has that fight that you need to develop a winning culture."
 
Guihon's fifth career game in double figures – she scored 13 of her 14 points in the second half while adding five rebounds, an assist and a steal  in 26 minutes. Together, Guihon, Odell and Rouse scored 25 of Longwood's 35 second half points.
 
"Stephanie did a much better job in the second half," Tillett said. "She got us into right sets and got the ball to the right people.
 
"Dayna responded in the second half. She was a little more precise in her offense which is what we need from her more consistently."
 
The Lancers forced the Rams into 25 turnovers, the most a Longwood team has forced since the 2016-17 season while the Lancers were limited to 14 turnovers in the game.
 
Longwood will play its home opener Wednesday, Nov. 14, as the Lancers welcome Wagner to Willett Hall. That game is set for a 11:30 a.m. opening tip.
 
"We know we have work to do but as long as we stay committed to one another to stay the course, we know the positive trends will come," Tillett said. "We have some good ideas for what we need to improve on, we'll attack practice hard and be ready for Wednesday."
 
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