HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A back and forth game between Longwood women's basketball and Sam Houston State went down to the final shot in Huntsville, Texas on Tuesday night. Ultimately, Madelyn Batista beat the buzzer to send the Bearkats to a one-point, 66-65 win over Longwood, overcoming a dynamic performance by Kyla McMakin and Akila Smith.
 
McMakin had given Longwood (3-3) a three-point lead with 57 seconds to play on a jumper in the paint, but Sam Houston (4-3) battled back. The Bearkats trimmed the lead to one on Courtney Cleveland's bucket with 36 seconds to go. After Longwood missed with nine seconds left, Damaya Telemaque took the rebound the other way. Her initial shot missed, but Batista scored a putback as time expired to end Longwood's three-game winning streak.

"It's always tough to lose in a situation like this – you blink and it's over," said McMakin. "We're taking a lot from this game. The positive impacts we made, we want to take that to the next game while also fixing the things we have trouble with."
 
Batista was one of four players who scored in double digits for the Bearkats, which was just enough to outlast a 26 point outburst from McMakin and Smith's 20-point, 11-rebound, 10-block triple-double. Telemaque had 15, followed by Batista with 14 and Faith Cook with 13 and Cleveland with 11. The The baskets were earned though, as the Lancer defense forced Sam Houston to shoot only 40 percent from the floor. Smith had three steals, and Kennedy Calhoun racked up four for a second straight game for the Lancers.

"For Kyla and Akila, it is a great performance in terms of their stats line; it is also expected from them," said head coach Rebecca Tillett. "We have big goals as a team this year, and those two are supposed to do what they did tonight. The concern for us is our scoring wasn't as balanced as it has been for us in the past, so we have to figure that piece out. We were a team with four, maybe five women averaging double figures last year - and that's part of what made our team so special."
 
McMakin's 26 were a game-high as the junior went 11-19 from the floor. She and Smith led yet another Longwood assault on the rim, as the Lancers scored 38 points in the paint and added 17 free throws. Smith's triple-double was the second in her Longwood career, with the first coming last season against Winthrop.

"It was really tough loss, this would have meant more if we would have got the win, but honestly I don't care about the stats as much as I would have cared to have the win," said Smith.  "The biggest thing for next game is to play all the way through while the clocks still running. I think we played well today, but I feel like we could have pulled it off. I'm proud of my team and my coaches performance. It just happened that they pulled it out in the end, but I'm still proud of us."
 
Both sides applied full court pressure right out of the gate. McMakin came out firing and tallied 14 points in the first half alone, and Smith added 10. However, Sam Houston stayed neck and neck with an opportunistic defense that scored 24 points off Longwood turnovers on the night.
 
The score stayed tight all the way through, and Longwood took a five-point lead off a Tra'Dayja Smith fast break layup with just a shade more than two minutes to play. Cleveland answered with a layup of her own to pull the Bearkats within three. After forcing a Longwood miss, Batista cut the lead to one. McMakin hit a jumper with 57 seconds left to give Longwood the three-point lead again and set up the furious final seconds.

"We need to let this one sting for a little bit so we remember what losing feels like, so we try not to feel it again," said McMakin. "We want to keep pushing and stay humble, while staying aggressive and walking with confidence. We need the knowledge that these are serious competitors."

"We have to rebound the ball. They had two more rebounds than us, and one was absolutely critical. That's what gave them the opportunity to win at the buzzer," said Tillett. "We have to walk into these next games with 'Maryland mentality' while remembering all the lessons we have learned so far this season."
 
The Lancer road trip continues as the team heads to Iowa for a pair of games next. First, the team travels to Drake on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. EST/6 p.m. CST before taking on 14^th ranked Iowa State on Sunday, Dec. 5. at 1 p.m. EST/12 p.m. CST. The team wraps up the road trip with a trip to Philadelphia to take on Drexel on Saturday, Dec. 11.
 
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