FARMVILLE, Va. – The Longwood Lancers women's basketball team dropped its season opener against defending the CAA champion Delaware Blue Hens by a score of 82-62. The Lancers unveiled their 2022 Big South Championship banners pregame and opened the 22-23 campaign in front of a large Willett Hall crowd.
Longwood Statistical Leaders
Points:
Janay Turner (17)
Rebounds:
Adriana Shipp-Davis (6)
Assists:
Steph Davis (3)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Longwood's (0-1) first possession of 2022 was a successful one, as
Geassy Germano scored inside on the game's first shot. Shortly after, senior guard
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy electrified the home crowd, converting on a four-point play after knocking down a three. However, the big play didn't faze the Blue Hens (1-0), as they kept up with the early intensity of the Lancers to keep the game close. The Lancers held a 17-14 advantage after the first quarter.
The back-and-forth affair continued, beginning with threes from Janay Turner and
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy to open the second quarter for Longwood. Down by five, Delaware came storming back, outscoring the Lancers 12-3 in the final five minutes of the second. Despite this, Longwood was still in it, down by only five heading into the locker room.
After a closely contested first half, Longwood kept the game close to begin the third. Forward
Brooke Anya, not known for her three-point shooting, knocked down back-to-back threes to cut Delaware's lead to one early in the frame. However, the Blue Hens responded well, as Jewel Smalls and Klarke Sconiers started catching fire. The pair combined for 21 points in the third, and Longwood now faced a 59-43 deficit with only one quarter to go. Although Janay Turner and
Adriana Shipp-Davis combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter, Delaware's lead would be too much to overcome, and the Blue Hens went on to win 82-62.
WHAT THEY SAID:
"The crowd was awesome, I really appreciate everyone coming out for our first game," said head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery. "I've heard about how loud it gets in Willett Hall, and it was amazing."
"I thought we did a really good job defensively [in the first half]," said Lang-Montgomery. "Offensively, we did a great job of reversing the ball, getting the shots that we want, and we were able to get downhill and get to the free-throw line early."
"In the third quarter, they punched really hard really quick and we've got to learn how to recover from that," said Lang-Montgomery. "We'll go back and watch film and address [these things] in practice the next few days."
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Tonight's match marks the 1
st ever matchup between the Lancers and the Blue Hens.
Janay Turner led the Lancers in scoring with 17 points while knocking down two threes.
For
Anne-Hamilton LeRoy, it was the 23
rd game of her career with 2+ 3PM.
The Lancers had three players reach double-digit points (LeRoy 11, Shipp-Davis 11, Turner 17).
For
Brooke Anya, it was her first career game with 2+ 3PM. She doubled her career total for three pointers with four.
UP NEXT:
The Lancers will be back at Willett Hall to take on the Ohio Bobcats on Thursday, November 10
th. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets to the event can be found
here.
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