ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Longwood trailed UNC Asheville by 16 points in the second quarter, but the Lancers mounted a spectacular second-half comeback, led by senior Dayna Rouse. Rouse scored 12 of her 14 points after the break leading Longwood to defeat UNC Asheville on their home court, 54-51.
Four Lancers finished in double-figures, but the most significant performance in the second-half comeback came from Dayna Rouse as she eclipsed 1,000 career points in her Longwood career, becoming the 22nd Lancer to do so in a Lancer jersey.
"The way we were playing our staff thought we should have been down more so the fact we were able to stay focused, and halftime was good for us," said head coach Rebecca Tillett. "We talked openly and honestly as a group about what was missing. We felt we needed to rebound better; they were going inside on us and trying to take advantage of that. In the second half, our women responded, and we want to be about toughness, and women showed that today."
"We had not proven yet that we could come from behind and win. We are never out of it and are always in the game, but we had not shown that we could come from behind and win, so that was huge for our women to realize that they can come from behind in conference play."
The win puts Longwood (10-10, 6-5 Big South) back above .500 in the Big South Conference and the programs third victory on the road in conference play. This is the second time the Lancers have defeated the Bulldogs after defeating them in Willett Hall on January 25, and moves Longwood to sixth in the Big South standings, only two games out of third place. Longwood is two wins shy of matching the program-best eight Big South wins set by the 2012-2013 team.
From the jump UNC Asheville (12-9, 6-6 Big South) used an early 11-2 run to take command of the first quarter with Brooke Jordan-Brown scoring eight of the Bulldogs 11 points in the run. Anne-Hamilton LeRoy scored her sixth point of the quarter in the closing seconds to bring Longwood back within single-digits of the Bulldogs to end the first quarter.
Asheville leaned on Brooke Jordan-Brown for offense in the first half as Jordan-Brown finished with 10 points in the first 20 minutes of action. The Bulldogs led by 16 points in the second quarter, but the freshman pair of Kyla McMakin and Anne-Hamilton LeRoy led the Lancers offense combining for 13 points, cutting the deficit to single-digits at the break.
The second half was dominated by Longwood, including a 24 point third quarter for the Lancers, outscoring the Bulldogs 34-22 in the final half. Rouse sparked the second-half comeback, scoring 12 of her 14 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, in the half.
Joining Rouse in the second half offensive charge was junior Tra'Dayja Smith with eight points in the final frame, including two back-to-back treys, and the final bucket of the game securing Longwood the win, 54-51.
Eclipsing the 1,000 point mark in her career, Dayna Rouse added to her offensive performance with seven rebounds, three blocks, and three steals. Rouse's three blocks move her into third all-time at Longwood with 111 career blocks.
"Scoring 1,000 points signifies being able to get it together after the first two years with the adversity I faced with injuries and such, said senior Dayna Rouse. "The last two years have been so different for me as I have been able to get back on pace and we are successful as a team."
"I'm pumped for Dayna," said Tillett. "You don't often get to stop and admire the work of an individual during the season because we are so team focused. This is a huge accomplishment for her; she had adversity she had to overcome in her career, so for her to do this with her teammates on the road in a game that matters, I am just really excited for Dayna. She has put in so much time in to her craft since we got here; you see her in the gym every time you walk by Willett getting shots up. Huge congratulations to her and her teammates are thrilled for her."
Five-time Freshman of the Week, Kyla McMakin matched Rouse's 14 points, including three treys of her own. Tra'Dayja Smith's 13 points and Anne-Hamilton LeRoy's 11 points joined Rouse in finishing with double-figures, Smith adding four assists to her performance in the win.
The second half was not all offense for the Lancers as Longwood held UNC Asheville to single-digits in the final frame. Longwood continued their trend of 5.6 blocks per game, blocking six shots against the Bulldogs, led by Rouse with three blocks.
"We are capable of starting games how we finished today," Rouse added. "We can't wait until things get bad, we need to throw the first punch, make the other team call their first timeout. Those are the goals that we have as we move into the final stretch of conference play."
The Lancers have swept one Big South foe, with the possibility of sweeping their next two opponents, Presbyterian College and Gardner-Webb. The Blue Hose of Presbyterian College will travel to Willett Hall on Saturday, February 8, as Longwood celebrates the 100th season of athletics and alumni day for women's basketball. The Lancers will then hit the road in seek of their fourth Big South road victory as Longwood travels to Gardner-Webb on February 11.
"Rebounding is something we want to take a look at as we prepare for Presbyterian," finished Tillett. "Presbyterian plays a different style than teams in our league, which is always unique because you have to prep differently for them than you do for other teams in the league."
"Presbyterian always battle us tough, so it will be nice to have them at home in front of what we hope is a big crowd for the 100th year of athletics at Longwood —Imagine that women have been playing basketball at Longwood for 100 years. Our women think about that and all the women that had come before and built this program. It is also our Alumni Night, which is always a special game to have alumni come back and share the relationships they built when they were at Longwood. It will be a special game as we get to spend time with people who have invested so much into Longwood."
#GoWood.
