BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Trailing Big South preseason favorite Campbell 52-51 with 3.5 seconds to play, Longwood sophomore Kyla McMakin nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Lancers to a 54-52 win Sunday afternoon at Gore Arena.
 
McMakin hit the game-winning trey directly in front of the Longwood (6-7, 5-3 Big South) bench and was immediately swarmed by her teammates and coaching staff, who made her the center of a dog pile celebrating Longwood's third win in the past four games. The trey capped an end-of-game surge from McMakin, who scored Longwood's last nine points in the game's final 1:19 to pull the Lancers out of a 50-45 deficit.
 
The Big South's No. 2 scorer, McMakin led all players with 17 points Sunday and scored 11 of those after halftime. Her game-winning triple capped off a monster run in the game's final minutes in which Longwood held the Fighting Camels (6-5, 3-3 Big South) scoreless on six of their final seven possessions.

Just prior to McMakin's game-winner, her fellow sophomore Anne-Hamilton LeRoy performed her own heroics on the defensive end when she blocked Taya Bolden's layup attempt with 13 seconds left. That rejection kept Campbell's lead at 52-51 and set up the possession that ended in McMakin's game-winner.

With the win, Longwood has now defeated the top two teams in the Big South preseason poll and is 3-1 against that group. The Lancers swept No. 2 Radford in their Big South-opening series on Dec. 15-16 and split the two-game set against Campbell this weekend.

"Our women are so known for our fight, and to go up five and then down five, that puts a lot of pressure on a team," said head coach Rebecca Tillett. "Our composure, our intensity towards winning -- we had to get through an end game situation together and I thought we were really locked into that.

"As a coach, you just want your women to experience this as many times as possible. Kyla has the confidence to take that shot, and her teammates have it in her. You could tell from our angle it was going in the second it left her hands, so just to see them celebrate and love each other like that, that's what we are trying to do -- have joy and love each other."
 
The win over the reigning Big South champion Fighting Camels is the Lancers' first-ever win in Gore Arena, and their first win over Campbell since Feb. 17, 2018. Powering them to this win alongside McMakin was Akila Smith, who notched 13 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks, and Tra'Dayja Smith, who scored 12 points – including two huge threes in the fourth quarter. Tra'Dayja Smith also added four assists, two steals and a block.
 
Campbell guard Luana Serranho led the Fighting Camels with 17 points, while Bolden added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Campbell.
 
Trailing 50-45 with just 3:27 remaining, McMakin led a 9-2 flurry to end the game, knocking down all three of her attempts from deep to push Longwood to a huge win. Off a feed from Tra'Dayja Smith, McMakin pulled Longwood within two with a deep ball with 1:17 remaining.
 
Following a Taya Bolden Layup, McMakin again connected from long-range, this time drawing a foul to make it a one point game, 52-51. Needing a defensive stop, Anne-Hamilton LeRoy got her hand on Bolden's attempt for Campbell with 13 seconds remaining, as Longwood secured the rebound and called a timeout to set up McMakin's first career game winning shot.  

The winner punctuated a strong shooting fourth quarter for the Lancers, in which they knocked down 5-of-8 attempts from deep, three from McMakin and two from Tra'Dayja Smith.
 
"[Tra'Dayja] hitting big shots and us getting big stops on defense helped me want to elevate my level," said Kyla McMakin. "I think that really helped me be able to hit those last shots because I wanted to make sure I do something to help my teammates. I had a lot of confidence going into that last one, and it definitely felt very good coming out of my hand."

"I definitely felt a rush," added McMakin on her first career game winning shot. "I actually can't remember. I just remember feeling the excitement, and having my teammates jump on me was probably my favorite part, and the excitement that they had for me was just great."

As with game one of the series, tight defense was the theme for both sides, as each team held the opposition to under .400 from the field. The Lancers allowed just 107 total points across two games, as defense held the Fightin Camels to just two points in the final two and a half minutes. 

"Coach Tillett had a great gameplan against them, and just following the game plan helped us with that," said Lancer point guard Tra'Dayja Smith. "We were hungry for that win."
 
Up next for the Lancers is a return to Farmville, as they get set to host Winthrop for a back-to-back set. Game one will tip off on Friday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m.
 
#GoWood ​