The Opening Tip
• Longwood begins a stretch of three of the next four Big South Conference games on the road in Boiling Springs, N.C., against the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb.
• Look for senior Dayna Rouse to continue her offensive success against Gardner-Webb. Rouse, in her last three appearances against the Runnin' Bulldogs, is averaging 28.0 points per game, including her career-high 34 points in February 2019.
• The Big South Conference selected freshman Kyla McMakin for her sixth Freshman of the Week honor after McMakin averaged 25.0 points per game the previous week, including a 36 point performance, the most points scored by any Lancer in the programs DI-era.
• Longwood and Gardner-Webb are two of the most potent offenses in the Big South. The Lancers (66.6 ppg) and Runnin' Bulldogs (64.8 ppg) rank No. 2 and No. 3 in the conference in scoring offense.
Last Time Out
• Despite a Division I-era record 36 points from Big South Freshman of the Year frontrunner Kyla McMakin and a fourth-quarter comeback, Presbyterian held off a late-charging Longwood team in the closing minutes of overtime to pull out an 82-77 win Saturday afternoon in Willett Hall.
• Joining McMakin in double-figures, one point shy of matching her career-high was Akila Smith. Smith finished 8-of-10 from the floor with 17 points and added five rebounds and four assists to her performance.
• McMakin continues to make her case for Big South Freshman of the Year with her first 30 point performance of her career and the first for the Lancers this season. McMakin added four steals and three rebounds to her record-breaking performance.
• Longwood finished with a season-best 21 assists as a team in the loss with Tra'Dayja Smith, Akila Smith, and Dayna Rouse distributing four assists apiece, and seven of the eight Lancers who took the floor recorded at least one assists.
By the Numbers
• Longwood's offense continues to be one of the best in the Big South Conference. The Lancers lead the conference in field goal percentage converting on .404 percent of their shots, while ranking second in the league in scoring, averaging 66.5 points per game.
• The offense is not all the Lancers bring to the court, Longwood's defense is a shot-blocking force. The Lancers lead the Big South averaging 5.62 blocks per game, and for the sixth time in 12 seasons, Longwood has recorded 100+ blocks in a season.
• The Lancers are not a team you want to give opportunities at the free-throw line. Longwood is the second in Big South shooting .737 from the charity stripe, converting 252 of their 342 free throws on the season.
• The duo of All-Big South Dayna Rouse and the frontrunner for Big South Freshman of the Year Kyla McMakin are responsible for the offensive success the Lancers have experienced this season. McMakin has made an immediate impact in the Big South in her freshman campaign, ranking first in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Rouse averages 15.0 points per game and ranks fourth in the league. Longwood joins High Point as the only two programs in the Big South with two women in the top-five in league scoring.
• A five-tool player is rare, but Longwood has one in Dayna Rouse. Rouse finds herself in the top-10 in the Big South in scoring (15.0), rebounding (7.2), double-doubles (6) FG% (.526), blocks (1.9), steals (1.7), minutes (33.7).
• Junior Tra'Dayja Smith has a knack for distributing the ball and finding the open Lancer. Smith leads the Big South and ranks ninth in Division I in assists, distributing an average of 6.3 assists per game.
• Blocks are a common theme for the Lancers' defense. Akila Smith leads the team with 43 on the season, with senior Dayna Rouse looking to regain the top spot with 40 blocks. Rouse's 40 blocks give her 111 career blocks, moving her into third all-time in the women's basketball record book.
• Playing as a freshman is hard to do, but making an immediate impact as a freshman is rare, having two freshmen making doing both is unheard of, but Kyla McMakin and Anne-Hamilton LeRoy are doing just that for the Lancers. McMakin and LeRoy are two of the four freshmen in the Big South, averaging double-digits for their respected programs. McMakin leads all freshmen in scoring, and LeRoy is the third-highest scoring freshmen in the Big South, averaging 11.0 points per. LeRoy ranks ninth in Big South Conference games in field goal percentage converting on .403 percent of her shots taken in league play.
Series History
• Longwood and Gardner-Webb meet for the second time this season after the Lancers defeated the Runnin' Bulldgos 8--70 to open Big South Conference play..
• Head Coach Rebecca Tillett can improve to 3-1 against the Runnin' Bulldogs with a series sweep today against Gardner-Webb.
• In the previous meeting four of the five Longwood starters reached double-figures, with Dayna Rouse leading the way with a game-best 26 points.
#GoWood
