RALEIGH, N.C. – Bigger stage. Brighter spotlight. Same old Lancers. 

In their March Madness debut, the Big South Champion Longwood Lancers (22-11) introduced themselves to the nation with a commanding – and history-making – takedown of reigning Northeast Conference Champion Mount St. Mary's, 74-70, in the NCAA's inaugural women's basketball First Four Thursday night at Reynolds Coliseum.

Fresh off a dominant run through the Big South, in which they won 14 of their final 15 games and stormed through the conference tournament, 16th-seeded Longwood carried the full weight of that momentum into their first-ever NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament. After jumping out 13-0 in the first quarter, the Lancers led by as many as 22 points before fighting off a fourth-quarter charge by the 16th-seeded Mountaineers (16-13), who were playing in the NCAA postseason for a second straight year.

"These three leaders and captains right here led us all the way to this magical moment," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett at the postgame press conference, flanked by the All-Big South trio of Kyla McMakin, Akila Smith and Tra'Dayja Smith.

"This is the biggest moment in Longwood women's basketball history so far. We hope there's more big moments after this."

With the win, the Lancers advance to the NCAA First Round where they will face No. 1 seed NC State Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN. 

The victory elevates yet again a storied season that has also seen Longwood top the 20-win plateau for the first time in the Division I era, set a new program standard for Big South wins (15), and secure both the Big South's regular season and tournament titles for the first time. Thursday's NCAA victory is the third in program history and the team's first since Hall of Fame head coach Shirley Duncan led the program to a first-round win in the 2003 Division II Tournament.

"I'm just so incredibly excited for our women," Tillett said. "And just the reminder that to get somewhere like this, what these women have to sacrifice, and what they have to do, and what the staff has to do. You know, there's just so many challenges. We've had tragedies on our team, we've had people go through hardships this year, and all of those things can either break you or forge you closer together. And this group, every single time, chose to forge closer together, and I'm so excited for all of them."

Keying Longwood's latest milestone was Big South Player and Defensive Player of the Year Akila Smith, whose career-high matching 32 points and 13 rebounds added up to the 23rd double-double of her career. The 5-10 senior forward shot 12-of-21 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line, added two blocks and an assist, and keyed a dominant effort on the boards that saw the Lancers out-rebound Mount St. Mary's 40-29 and score 21 second-chance points.

That performance provided the foundation for the Lancers' 10th consecutive win and added another chapter to a turnaround story that has been among the best in college basketball this season. Just four years since the then-rebuilding Lancers went 3-27 in year one under head coach Rebecca Tillett in 2018-19, this year's Longwood team won the program's first Big South Championship and first NCAA Division I Tournament game in back-to-back outings just 11 days apart. 

"It was a big moment for us," said Tra'Dayja Smith, whose performance Thursday followed her Big South Tournament MVP recognition less than two weeks ago. "Like I said to the Big South Media [after the Big South Championship game win], we all came here to write history and write our own story for Longwood. As you see tonight, we did it and we're not done yet."

Along with Akila Smith's 32-point effort, McMakin scored 18, and Tra'Dayja Smith directed the offense with 11 points and six assists. McMakin, just a junior, became only the second Longwood player to surpass 1,600 career points and now sits just six shy of breaking Ana Litton's all-time record of 1,615. 

But Mount St. Mary's, which entered the tournament winners of six straight and their second consecutive NEC Championship, refused to make Longwood's historic win an easy one, mounting an end-game surge that put them within two possessions inside the final minute. That run featured a 12-2 surge that whittled Longwood's lead to single digits with 1:10 to play and a three-pointer by Jessica Tomasetti that made it a four-point game, 72-68, with 16 seconds on the clock. 

However, the senior Tra'Dayja Smith responded by hitting two free throws, and Longwood's defense regained its form in those closing seconds – the same form that held Mount St. Mary's scoreless for the first 5:50 of the game – to survive and advance. 

Tomasetti finished with 13 points as one of Mount St. Mary's four double-digit scorers. That quartet was led by NEC Player of the Year Kendall Bresee, who did the bulk of her damage in the second half and finished 20 points before fouling out with 48 seconds to play.

The Lancers' upcoming Saturday showdown against site host and third-ranked NC State (29-3) will be the third ranked opponent Longwood has faced this season. 

#GoWood