Longwood University Athletics

Game 21: Longwood (10-10, 7-2 Big South) vs. Radford (5-11, 1-3 Big South)
Date & Time	Saturday Jan. 29, 2022
Location	Radford, Va.
Game Notes	Longwood | Radford | Big South
Statistics	Longwood | Radford | Big South
Live Stats	Radford Live Stats
Video/TV	ESPN+
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodWBB

The Opening Tip:

• Backing her Big South Player of the Week accolade, Kyla McMakin strung another 20 plus (25) performance together against Big South contender High Point. That marked her fourth game in a row with 20 or more points, tying the all-time record of consecutive 20 plus games in the division one era.
• Tra'Dayja Smith had a huge game on Tuesday as well, grabbing 19 points, five assists, and two steals - 19 just one shy of her career record at Longwood.
• Adriana Shipp came off the bench as an aggressor for the Lancers, attacking the basket and grabbing four free throws (4-4) adding to Longwood's .833 percent on the night.
• Longwood now has a win streak (3) beating Gardner-Webb, Winthrop and now High Point going into the weekend against Radford.

Series History:

• Similar to the most recent game for the Lancers, A. Smith, T. Smith, McMakin and Shipp all scored in double figures in the last meeting between these teams. Shipp and McMakin grabbed 20 plus points a pair.
• Another trend in 2021-22 has been intensity and aggression on defense. Just one season ago, it was steals and defensive stops that turned into scores that made the difference in the last meeting with the highlanders.

By the Numbers:

• Kyla McMakin earned her second Big South Player of the Week award this past week after averaging 27.0 ppg, and grabbing two season-best's against Winthrop (27) and Gardner-Webb (33). McMakin has also strung four consecutive games with 20 plus points, matching the Longwood record in doing so.
• Akila Smith has been one of the top shot blockers in the country throughout this season. She ranks first in the Big South with 60, and is ranked third on the national leader board.  
• Tra'Dayja Smith is the leading passer in the Big South for the second year in a row, with 104 assists on the year, and is ranked 16th nationally.
• Kyla McMakin and Akila Smith are ranked amongst the top scorers in the Big South. McMakin has strung together seven straight games in double-digit scoring with Smith grabbing 10 plus in the previous three games. This is the second straight season the duo remains in the top five. 
• Kennedy Calhoun has been a menace to opposing guards defensively, and has made a stance for herself going into conference play. Calhoun earned her first ever Freshman of the Week honor after stringing together two more games in double-digit scoring and collecting eight assists last week. She now has 56 steals (2.80 spg) and is in second in the Big South, and rank seventh nationally in steals - as a freshman point guard.
• Akila Smith wrote her name in the Longwood record books again with her second career triple double, the third in team history, with a 20-point, 11-rebound, 10-block effort at Sam Houston on Nov. 30.

Quoateables:

"From my first year here until now, this all shows how badly we want this. All the steps we've taken so far had led up to this moment. We just have to keep remembering who we are. We know we have a top shot blocker, a top scorer, we know we have the person who can get the steals and we just have to keep playing to our strengths and who we are as a team." - Graduate Student Guard, Tra'Dayja Smith 

"We're such a fighting team. Whatever they hit us with, we're going to hit them back harder and get back up. I think that's what makes us so great. Everyone on this team down to the freshman, we just play with fearlessness, and come out swinging and tonight that showed." - Junior Guard, Kyla McMakin 

#HorsePower