CLINTON, S.C. – Behind 21 points from Shamani Stafford to lead four players in double figures and a shooting performance of a season-high 16 three-pointers, Presbyterian earned an 81-66 win over the Longwood women's basketball team Tuesday night inside the Templeton Center.

The Blue Hose, who came into Tuesday's matchup as the top three-point shooting team in the Big South with a .379 clip, matched its season-high of 16 triples to lead to a red-hot .615 (16-of-26) shooting percentage from long range.

Presbyterian (3-10, 1-1 Big South) overcame the eighth game in double figures for Longwood (1-11, 0-2 Big South) leading scorer Dayna Rouse, as she finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding four rebounds and two blocks. Rouse led her team to a .509 shooting percentage, marking the second time on the season that Longwood eclipsed the .500 mark shooting. In addition, Akila Smith finished with her first game in double figures with 10 points while Stephanie Guihon finished with eight points while adding three steals in 26 minutes.    

"It's hard to lose games like this when you shoot 51 percent but what it comes down to is, are we going to defend?," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett. "That's the biggest question to our locker room. We also have to do a better job of valuing the ball. Tonight, we had 26 turnovers, 20 of which were unforced errors on our part. Those are both within our control to fix."

Stafford's 21 points came on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, as she paced the Blue Hose. She was one of four players for Presbyterian to finish in double figures, as she was joined by Salina Virola with 14 points, seven rebounds, along with 11 from the Big South's top three-point shooter Kacie Hall while Trinity Johnson added 10 points.

Presbyterian opened on a 10-0 run and led by as many as 18 in the opening half led by 14 points from Stafford. Longwood cut that deficit down to 10 points late in the third quarter on the heels of 7-0 run following an Akila Smith layup but was unable to draw any closer.

The performance for Rouse comes on the heels of a double-double effort at Winthrop, as she increased her shooting percentage to .576 to move atop the Big South. In addition, Smith, a freshman from Orlando, Fla., had her first game in double figures with eight of her 10 points coming in the second half.

After playing five consecutive games away from Willett Hall, the Lancers will return to their home gym Saturday, Jan. 12 for their Big South home opener against Charleston Southern. That game is set for a 12 p.m. opening tip and be followed by the Longwood men's basketball team in a doubleheader.

"We've tried to hide some of the areas that we need to grow quickly and the bottom line is that in conference play you can't hide them. You have to be able to defend," Tillett said. "It's been a long time since our women have played a game in Willett Hall, so it'll be great for us to be back home."

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