FARMVILLE, Va. — When more the half of the players on a roster are newcomers to a program, as is the case for third-year head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery and the Longwood women's basketball team, it could be a tall task to find the right chemistry early in the season.
But the Lancers, with their seven fresh faces, are coming together nicely as the 2024-25 season opens Monday when Lincoln (Pa.) visits the Joan Perry Brock Center.
"We're excited for year three," Lang-Montgomery said. "We had a really good summer of gelling and getting to know each other, but we're definitely at that point in the season where we're ready to compete against someone other than ourselves."
Four of the newcomers arrive in Farmville with collegiate playing experience and two — guards Mariah Wilson (2021-24 at Division I Towson) and Jaci Bolden (2022-23 at Division II Biola) have NCAA time under their belt. Sophomore guard Jaelyn Brown and junior guard/forward JaMaya Robinson have junior-college roots.
"A compliment someone gave us this summer when they had come and watched practice was they didn't know the new people from the old people," Lang-Montgomery said. "I thought that was really cool that they've gelled that quickly. Usually that doesn't always happen. I think our returners did a great job of welcoming and embracing our newcomers and making them feel at home. I think there's a competitive spirit, which is really good, but in a healthy way. I think everyone is trying to make everyone better and you can see that every day in practice."
The Lancers return graduate student starting point guard Kiki McIntyre and her senior backcourt mate, Malea Brown. Both players paced Longwood's defensive effort last season, finishing first and third, respectively, in the Big South Conference in steals per game, with McIntyre placing as high as 20th in NCAA Division I in the category.
Brown also has a knack for making clutch shots, a talent that was on display when she hit a halftime-buzzer-beating heave from half court as the Lancers defeated Radford on senior day, part of a stretch including wins in three of their final four regular-season games.
Lang-Montgomery is also looking for sophomore forward Otaifo Esenabhalu to make the next step after averaging 4.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. The Valdosta, Ga., native was twice named Big South Freshman of the Week, leading to a place on the league All-Rookie Team at season's end.
"I think having those two [McIntyre and Esenabhalu] back, having a year in our system, it's good to have them as cornerstones. Kiki really sets the tone for us and what we want to do defensively and to have someone as strong and aggressive on the boards as Otaifo is a blessing as well.
"Now we want to see Otaifo's development offensively and she's doing that. And just consistency, more finishing inside for her."
Also back is sophomore forward Frances Ulysse, a 6-for-2 native of Montréal, Québec, who averaged 4.5 points and 2.4 boards per game while starting 23 times.
Lang-Montgomery has been encouraged early in the season by others, as well.
"I think Amor Harris is going to surprise a lot of people. She's a player that didn't play a lot of minutes for us last year, but really embraced wanting to improve in the offseason and has put in a tremendous amount of work and it's showing every day in practice.
"I think Jaci Bolden is a scorer that will help us as well as Lili Booker," Lang-Montgomery continued. "[Booker is] a freshman who's just really good at creating an open space, just can really make plays. I'm excited to see those two on the court as well."
Freshman Olivia Bowes and sophomore Nalani Simmons will compete for time in the backcourt, while 6-2 walk-on Montgomery Bedford — who will also play for the Lancers' women's lacrosse team in the spring — provides depth.
Longwood plays seven of its 14 non-conference games in the friendly confines of the JPB this season, a welcome change after enduring seven consecutive away from its new building early in non-league action last season.
"I'm excited that we have a lot of non-conference games in there this year," said Lang-Montgomery of the schedule. "We didn't have a lot last year. And we didn't really get to say 'there's no place like home' because we didn't get to experience it until conference play.
"And so, down the stretch, it definitely served us well," she continued. "We won our last two games in there against Radford and Gardner-Webb, and so that was a great way to end the season. And so we're excited to get back in there and pick up where we left off."
In order for Longwood to finish better than its predicted seventh in the Big South standings, the Lancers will need to win tight games.
"A goal of mine and hopefully for our team too is, as we go through conference play, to pull out more of those close games that we had last year," Lang-Montgomery explained. "We had several that were single-digit losses and so being able to execute a little bit better down the stretch and make better decisions earlier in the game [is important].
"I think no one is pleased with the way our season ended last year," she said. "And so I think there's a lot of desire to show that we are capable, that we can win at Longwood. When it's all said and done, we want to be still playing late into March. That's the goal, that's the objective."
