BUIES CREEK, N.C. – In a matchup between the Big South's top offense in Longwood and the top defense in Campbell, the Fighting Camels' stifling defense led Campbell to a 54-39 win over the Lancers on Thursday night in the Big South tournament semifinals at Gore Arena.
 
Thursday's loss capped a historic season for Longwood, who set program firsts in several areas including Big South wins (12), best finish (third), and All-Big South recognitions (5). Monday's quarterfinals win over UNC Asheville also marked the program's first victory in the Big South tournament since March 6, 2013.
 
However, Campbell's Big South leading defense clamped down on Thursday night, ending the Lancer run in the semifinals. The Fighting Camels, who led the conference in allowing just 51.9 points per game, had their stifling defense on full display, holding the high-scoring Lancers to just .293 (17-58) from the field, including 2-of-15 from deep. The stingy Camels, led by Lauren McNamara-Clement's seven blocks, rejected 10 shots while forcing 16 Lancer turnovers.
 
Thirteen of those Lancer turnovers came in the first half, where Longwood was held to just 12 points. Entering the game averaging a conference-best 71.8 points, their offense was held to just 39 on Thursday, their lowest total since Jan. 19, 2019 against Radford.
 
"I thought Campbell's defense in the first half was tremendous," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett. "Ours was good, it was really good. We just could not get any kind of rhythm offensively, and it was obviously due to the disruptions they caused us. I thought our women had the right type of fight that we're known for. I'm still super proud of our women and all that they've accomplished this season. Just a tough one."

The scoring champion in the Big South for the second-consecutive season, All-Big South First Team Lancer guard Kyla McMakin was held to just nine points, just her third time in single digits in 25 games this season. The sophomore combined for 40 points in two meetings with the Fighting Camels in the regular season, including a game-winning, buzzer-beating three on Jan. 10 to give Longwood their first program win in Gore Arena, but the Camel defense keyed in on the prolific scorer in their third meeting this season.

Fellow All-Big South First Team member Akila Smith tallied a team-high 14 points for the Lancers. Also Longwood's first ever recipient of the Big South Defensive Player of the Year award, Smith swatted six shots, her 15^th time turning aside at least three shots this season.
 
Smith's rim protection helped anchor a Longwood defense that kept the Lancers in the game Thursday night despite their shooting-woes, forcing 17 Campbell turnovers while holding the Fighting Camels to .393 (22-56) from the field and just 3-of-19 from deep.

"Our staff has put so much extra time in, our women have put in so much extra time, extra film work, extra prep work," said Tillett. "And I think we've just seen this gradual improvement over time, which is what you hope for. I thought so much of that came together in today's first half. The second half was a little tougher for us on the defensive end, but the first half, we were really working together to get those stops."
 
However, three players digits reached double-digits for Campbell in McNamara-Clement (12), Shy Tuelle (12), and Luana Serranho (10), as they found enough offense in the low-scoring affair to advance to the Big South Championship against top-seeded High Point. Entering the game with the best rebounding margin in the Big South, they held a 43-34 edge on the glass Thursday night, leading to a 14-4 advantage in second-chance points.
 
The Lancers will return five of the six players who recorded starts for them in 2021 including All-Big South First team members Akila Smith and Kyla McMakin, All-Big South freshman team performer Adriana Shipp, and double-digit scorer Anne-Hamilton Leroy. Four seniors will graduate for the Lancers, including starting point guard Tra'Dayja Smith.

"You have to learn how to win," Tillett added as she talked about the next step in the growth of the program. "In the culture of a program, you have to learn how to win, and I think now you can say, 'Okay, we've learned how to win,' right? Once you get that down, then it becomes, how do you elevate another notch and another notch and another notch, and that journey is never-ending if you want to be the best with your team or profession or family. I think that will be the next step. I'm just so thrilled with the culture, the foundation that we've built."

"One of our staff members was talking about how everybody says they have core values, and this team lived our core values, which are love, joy, toughness and collective responsibility. And you just saw it in all they were able to accomplish together. For coaches, we just want to see them grow and do great things together. For this team, they were able to do both those things, and then when you look ahead, it's like, 'Okay, well, let's grow again and let's do great things together again.'"
 
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