DURHAM N.C. – A trip to ACC powerhouse Duke did not end with the final score in Longwood's favor, but the Lancers, who finally got the opportunity to see their team play against a live opponent, have plenty of reason for optimism.
 
Despite 24 points from reigning Big South Freshman of the Year Kyla McMakin and a double-double from junior forward Akila Smith, the Lancers (0-1) dropped their season opener to the Blue Devils, 94-64 Wednesday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Duke (1-0) offset McMakin and Smith's production with a balanced offense that produced five players in double-digit scoring, and a size advantage that yielded a rebounding advantage of 53-29. Sophomore Jaida Patrick led the Blue Devils with 21 points, while 6-3 forward Onome Akinbode-James turned in a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double.

However, Smith held her own against the outsized Blue Devils, notching her third career double-double with 17 points on an efficient 8-12 from the field, 10 rebounds, and two steals for the Lancers. Meanwhile, McMakin picked up where she left off from her standout 2019-20 season, pouring in 24 points with three boards and three steals. The outburst marked McMakin's 11th career 20-point game and put her back on top of the Big South scoring leaderboard where she ended her freshman season with a league-leading 18.8 points per game as a true freshman.

McMakin became only the sixth non-conference player to score at least 20 points against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium over the past four seasons.

"We are obviously excited to be here at Cameron," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett, who is now in her third season at the helm of the program. "That's a huge opportunity for our women and our staff to coach in this environment, especially against Kara Lawson in her opening game, which everybody was excited about as well. Credit to Duke, they're obviously trying to get some things going together and are finding their rhythm. We were trying to do the same.

"One of our big focuses this year has to be defense and rebounding, and we're pretty frustrated with some of those things but it's great teaching film for us. We're going to learn a lot from this game and we are looking forward to how it prepares us for the rest of the non-conference and then our conference season."
 
The Duke win is the first for newly appointed Blue Devils head coach Kara Lawson, as the prolific WNBA and Olympic champion took over the program in July, 2020 after spending time with the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach.

The Blue Devils got out to a fast start, opening the contest on a 10-0 run through the first 6:41 of the game. Longwood was able to find its offensive footing, ending with 10 points over the last 3:19 of the first quarter, tallying at least 14 points in each of the remaining three frames.
 
After a cold start, McMakin began to heat up in the second quarter, knocking down three of four shots for eight points in a tightly-contested frame where Longwood nearly kept pace with Duke, 19-21. The preseason All-Big South first team selection kept the hot hand through the halftime break, as she poured in 12 points on 5-8 shooting in the third quarter. Smith tallied six of her 17 in the frame, as the pair combined for 18 points in the frame.
 
Trailing 76-50 to start the fourth, Longwood responded with a 10-2 run over the first 3:03 of the final stanza to cut the lead to 18, but the Blue Devils steadied the ship and were ultimately able to down the Lancers, 94-64.

Longwood also got eight points from redshirt freshman Adriana Shipp in her collegiate debut, six points from reigning Big South All-Freshman selection Anne-Hamilton LeRoy, and five points, three assists and three steals from senior point guard and Lieberman Award Watch List selection Tra'Dayja Smith.

"I think a big bright spot for this team is that they're going to fight," added Tillett. "They're going to find a way to compete and even when we got down, you could see them have spurts of saying 'no, we're going to put some things together here,' and today we just weren't able to put enough of them together back-to-back. I think that's something that was a trademark of last year's team and that this team's carrying over. This team has a little bit more maturity about the way they do it because they've done it together more, but I think that's probably the brightest spot from today."

Longwood returns home on Saturday, Nov. 28 for a clash with East Tennessee State in their opener at Willet Hall. Opening tip is set for 3 p.m.
 
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