The Opening Tip
• Longwood begins the second half of conference play at home by welcoming Presbyterian to Willett Hall. The two teams split the season series last year.
• The Lancers are coming off their bye week, with the bye coinciding with a natural break in the schedule that led to 14 days in between games.
• Through eight conference games, the Lancers have posted a 7-3 record, the program's best conference record through 10 games of Big South play since joining the league in 2012-13.
• Longwood has won seven straight at home and holds a 14-10 record in Willett Hall in the past two seasons.
• Longwood has used the same starting five in all 11 games this season. The five starters all average more than 25 minutes and eight points per game.
• The Lancers have three players in the top 13 in the conference in scoring, with
Kyla McMakin (18.7 ppg, second) and
Akila Smith (14.3 ppg, fifth) in the top five.
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy (11.2 ppg) is 13th
Last Time Out
• Extending a month-long celebration that has seen Longwood (8-7, 7-3 Big South) win six of seven games, appear on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays twice, and ascend to second place in the Big South standings, McMakin poured in 20+ points for the second straight night to lead the red-hot Lancers to a second straight win over Winthrop, 80-73, in Willett Hall.
• Winners of six of their past seven – with their lone defeat during that stretch a 55-54 road loss at reigning Big South champion Campbell – Longwood's rapid ascent through the Big South standings has them now trailing only first-place High Point (9-1) for the league's top spot.
• Saturday's win over Winthrop (2-9, 1-7 Big South) was another showcase for the high-powered offense that has powered the Lancers' throughout their third season under head coach
Rebecca Tillett. The Lancers topped 80 points for the fifth time this season behind an up-tempo attack that scored 20 points off turnovers and assisted on 16 of its 27 made field goals.
By The Numbers
• Longwood's offense leads the Big South in scoring at 70.2 points per game, the only team averaging more than 70 points. The Lancers have scored at least 80 points five times, going 4-1, with the three wins being by double digits. The team scored at least 80+ only three times in 2019-20.
• The Lancer offense has pounded the offensive glass, ranking second in the Big South with 15 offensive boards per game.
• Thanks to the focus on offensive rebounding, Longwood has piled up 209 second-chance points across 15 games thanks to 225 offensive rebounds.
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Akila Smith leads the charge to the offensive glass for the Lancers. Her 4.3 offensive rebounds per game rank 13th nationally, and she has grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in a game three times this season. She is one of four players on the team to have at least 20 offensive boards, with
Brooke Anya (23),
Mallory Odell (21) and
Kyla McMakin (20) joining her.
• Smith also gobbles up defensive rebounds at a high rate and is fourth the nation in total rebounds (169) while ranking 18th in rebounds per game (11.3). That rebounding prowess coupled with a deft touch around the basket has allowed her to rack up nine double-doubles, the seventh most in the nation.
• On defense, the Lancers are active and disruptive. They are sixth in the nation in total blocks with 88 and lead the Big South with 5.9 blocks per game while ranking third in the conference with 8.5 steals per game.
• Smith anchors the back line of that defense and is second in the nation in total blocks (58) while ranking fourth in blocks per game (3.9). She has had at least four blocks in a game seven times this season and is four away from breaking the career blocks record at Longwood held by
Heather Tobeck.
• Two players rank in the top 10 in the Big South in steals per game:
Akila Smith (2.1, third) and
Kyla McMakin (1.8, seventh).
• On the season, Longwood has scored 234 points off turnovers, which translates to 22.2 percent of the team's points. Against ETSU, Longwood forced 32 turnovers, the most in a single game in the team's three seasons under head coach
Rebecca Tillett.
• The Lancers also boast the one of the top turnover margins in the Big South, thanks to an offense that turns the ball over a league-low 13.7 times per game coupled with a defense that forces 16.7 turnovers per game (fifth in the league). Senior point guard
Tra'Dayja Smith keys the offense, leading the Big South with 4.7 assists per game while posting a 1.4 assist to turnover ratio.
• Longwood has been lights out from the free throw line this season. The team leads the Big South with a .782 shooting percentage (201-257) from the charity stripe.
Kyla McMakin sits second on the leaderboard after shooting .881 (59-67), with
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy two spots behind her in fourth (.829, 58-70)
Series History
• The Eagles and Lancers face off for the 23rd time in program history, and the sixth time under coach Tillett.
• The Lancers and the Blue Hose met three times last season, including in the first round of the Big South Conference Championship.
• Presbyterian took two of the three meetings in 2019-20, with the road team winning all three matchups.
#GoWood
