HAMPTON, Va. – Longwood concluded their third game in five days in Hampton on Sunday with a win over the Pirates 77-51.  
 
"Our women, they are so tough and resilient, and they've stayed the course this whole time to put us in this position," said Head Coach Rebecca Tillett. "You look at the performance today, and so many women contribute, and it may have taken longer than we wanted to figure out how to put all the pieces together, but I definitely think we are playing our best basketball right now. Which is what every coach hopes happens this time of the year."

Coming into the game, Longwood (16-11, 13-3 Big South) sat tied for second in the Big South with Gardner-Webb. Going 3-0 last week, the Lancers now sit tied for first in the Big South with only two games remaining in the regular season.

"When I got here, Longwood was never in the talk across the conference of being in the top five," said Graduate Student Tra'Dayja Smith. "To come from the bottom and put ourselves in a position where it's possible to be number one, it's really big, and says a lot about every single person in our program."

"To have such a big jump to be in the position we are in, battling for the first spot it's so surreal," said Junior Guard Kyla McMakin. "We have so many threats on this team, and it's really been the last few games all these threats are working together and that'll help a lot with the post season coming up. We have probably eight other women on the team who can come up with 20 points with ease, so it opens up the court for us."
 
The power of the "Smith duo" led the Lancers with a combined 33 points. Tra'Dayja shot .500 from behind the arch, and grabbed 12 of those points in the first half alone all from three. Smith finished the game with 16, and added seven assists to her slate (143).

"Knowing the season is near the end, and knowing this is actually my last try at this, there is no more COVID year for me after this," said Smith. "I want to give it my all to help put the team in the best chance for the best seed in the conference."
 
Adriana Shipp brought the fire off the bench and went 2-2 from three immediately, grabbing six quick points to extend the Lancers lead. Akila Smith showed off her magic in the paint scoring 17 (7-12 FG), all while grabbing eight rebounds, just shy of another double-double. The reigning Big South Defensive Player of the Year, Smith also added another block and two steals on the other end of the court.
 
The team shot an astounding .905 percent from the charity strip, with Kyla McMakin being one to contribute to that percentage. McMakin went 7-8 from the free throw line, hitting one to mark her 1,500^th point of her career at Longwood. She now sits in fourth place with career points in the program in only her third active year. McMakin finished with 14 points and extended her double-digit point streak to 16 games.

"It feels great. The milestone I accomplished, it makes me think there is so much more on my mind I want to do here in my time at Longwood," said McMakin. "I am really happy I could share it near my hometown, and just the celebration from my teammates. They make me appreciate it even more, because I know they are helping me reach these goals."

"It was such a fun moment. She's a scorer, and I don't think she knew how close she really was," said Tillett on McMakin's 1,500 point moment. "We prepped the team leaders a little bit on it, and when she would hit the mark. I just think it was so fun for her to do it there, because it's almost a hometown game for her being from Virginia Beach. Plus, she had to work so hard for it tonight because of what the team was trying to do to her, so it made it even sweeter. This speaks to our team too, because they were working as hard to help her pursue it tonight. Everyone thinks about how they can help somebody else, and when you have a team like that, everyone is going to have special moments."
 
The Lancers mark their 13^th win in conference play, the most ever done by any team in the division I era. Ten Longwood players contributed on offense to the 26 point victory over Hampton on Sunday. Defensively, Longwood was able to out rebound the conference foe by 10, fighting for a total of 45 rebounds on the day.  

"We really had to work together during some of the stretches where we didn't see as much success and we had to figure it all out," said Tillett. "Now, we're at the point when in a game we can figure it out with positivity together right there on the court. We know we have to face adversity every game, it's all about how we respond to it now."
 
For Hampton (10-14, 6-8 Big South), it was Jermany Mapp and Nylah Young leading the offensive push for the Pirates. Young finished with 15 points shooting a solid 6-10 from the field. Right behind Young, Mapp added 10 to the Pirates final points, combining for half of the team's final score. Hampton currently sits in the middle of the pack going into the final week of regular season Big South competition.
 
"Everyone wishes there was more time," said Tillett. "Unfortunately some teams across the country don't care if their season ends, but we are not one of those teams."

"We all know what's at stake, so we have to stay focused. We all want a championship and we know what it's going to take to get one," said Smith.

Longwood has two more games remaining this week before post season play kicks off. The Lancers will take on USC Upstate on Wednesday for a regular season rematch in South Carolina. Then, Longwood will honor its two seniors, and one super-senior on Saturday at 3 p.m. once against facing the Hampton Pirates.

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