FARMVILLE, Va. – When November comes around, excitement in gymnasiums across the country begins to build, as basketball season has nearly arrived.

GAME NOTES

The buzz surrounding tip-off for the Lancers couldn't be bigger following the historic runs to the NCAA Tournament by both the men's and women's teams a year ago. With a Big South title to their name and an exciting offseason in Farmville, the future for Longwood women's basketball looks bright.

Longwood set course in a new direction following the team's postseason run, with the coaching staff and several players departing in the spring. Seeking an experienced and respected leader to take the reigns of the program, Longwood introduced Erika Lang-Montgomery as the team's head coach in April.

Lang-Montgomery comes to Farmville with a plethora of experience, having been a head coach at Flagler College from 2009-2019 and an assistant coach with several Power 5 programs including Wisconsin, Southern California, Florida State and Purdue. Her most recent stop was at the University of Florida, where she was a student athlete in her playing days and an assistant over the last few years. 'Coach E' believes that her time serving as an assistant has helped prepare her to step into a head coaching role again.

"My time at Florida was beneficial in taking a step back and seeing things from the student athletes in a different capacity," said Lang-Montgomery. "I felt like I was able to be a little bit more hands on than I would be as a head coach, so having a better understanding of their challenges and distractions is helping me now."

Only seven of the team's thirteen players returned to Longwood for the 2022 season, and the Lancers welcomed one freshman and five transfer students to campus to round out the roster. With any new team comes a learning curve and challenges, but Lang-Montgomery says her returning players have done an excellent job embracing the changes.

"The returners were incredibly accepting of our newcomers," said Lang-Montgomery. "When you look at us, you wouldn't know that this was a team that had just come together in terms of our chemistry off the court.

"Our returners have done a good job of leading by example for our newcomers. Anne-Hamilton LeRoy has been a really good leader for us. She's a leader by example and with her work ethic."

LeRoy has been a steady scoring option for the Lancers over the course of her career. The senior guard from Seneca, S.C. posts career averages of 9.1 points, 1.2 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game and was named to the Preseason Big South All-Conference Second Team ahead of this season.

Among Longwood's returners are senior Geassy Germano and graduate student Milou Vennema, who is returning for her fifth year in Farmville. Juniors Brooke Anya and Adriana Shipp-Davis are also slated to step into bigger roles this winter.

"I knew we had to find people who were ready to step up into those roles, to be shooters and scorers for us, so that has been a big emphasis," said Lang-Montgomery. "Our newcomers like Bailey Williams and Steph Davis have shown great leadership on the court as well."

Williams (James Madison) and Davis (Holy Cross) are just two of the new faces coming to Willett Hall this season. Freshman Chardonnay Hartley, sophomore transfer Alyssa Chapman (Radford), sophomore transfer Daysha Reid (CCBC Essex) and junior transfer Janay Turner (Norfolk State) round out the offseason additions to the roster. While the team itself learns to play together, Lang-Montgomery says she's been impressed with how they have bought in to learning her system.

"On the court, we are still learning how to play together and move together in sync, and that takes some time," explained Lang-Montgomery. "However, the effort to improve upon that every day has been there."

One of Lang-Montgomery's biggest focuses has been setting the pace and tempo at which the team plays. However, with that comes a level of intensity at practice in order to prepare the players for her system.

"They are learning the pace I want to play at, which is fast and up-tempo," said Lang-Montgomery during the Big South Basketball Media Day. "In order to play that way, you have to be in great shape…it allows us to play a little more freely and think while being tired."

Now with months of preparation and adjustments under their belts, Longwood women's basketball is only days away from tip-off, and Coach E is excited to show fans what her team is made of.

"Fans will see a team that really embodies hard work and playing hard every night, that is the trademark of what my teams have looked like in the past," said Lang-Montgomery. "You're going to see a fast-paced tempo team on both ends, and we want to pressure the ball defensively full court but also be very aggressive offensively looking to score."

The Lancers open their season and reveal their 2021-22 Big South Championship banner on November 7^th at 7 p.m. at home against the Delaware Blue Hens. Tickets for the event can be found here. Stay up to date with Longwood women's basketball all season long by visiting longwoodlancers.com or following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
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