ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Longwood women's basketball team pushed Navy to the brink Wednesday at Alumni Hall, before falling, 74-66.
The Midshipmen were in control for three quarters, but Longwood cobbled together a 33-point fourth period, complete with a 19-5 run over the final five minutes to close the gap to just five points with less than 30 seconds to play.
Navy (2-0), the Patriot League's preseason favorite, received 25 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore guard Zanai Barnett Gay, who was picked as the conference preseason player and defensive player of the year, to help the Midshipmen build what was a 27-point edge.
The Lancers, however, whittled away, making 11-of-21 shots in the fourth quarter.
"We showed some fight, had some pride in who we are and we fought the last four minutes," said Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery. "I wish we played that way for the other 36."
Frances Ulysse made it a 67-47 game with 5:32 to play on a layup off of a Jasmine Peaks assist, starting the Lancers' comeback. A pair of buckets by Otaifo Esenabhalu and one by Kayla Washington combined with free throws from Peaks and Malea Brown shrunk the deficit to 69-58 with 3:26 on the clock.
Jaci Bolden hit another from the line and Brown followed with a layup to force a Navy timeout at 71-63 with 35 seconds left. After Barnett-Gay missed free throw, Esenabhalu grabbed the board and Washington drained a 3-pointer to cut the Navy to lead to 71-66.
That, though, was as close as Longwood (2-1) got.
Navy shot nearly 59 percent in the first quarter to stake itself to a 26-12 advantage, extending it to 42-20 at halftime and 57-33 after three periods.
"[I told them at halftime] that we've got to keep fighting, we've got to take it back, possession by possession — stop, score, stop," Lang-Montgomery said. "Things that we talk about in practice and reminded them that Navy had a 20-point lead against Delaware in their first game, but it dwindled away, and that we had a chance if we wanted it."
Esenabhalu finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Amor Harris and Peaks each also reached double figures with 10 points. Brown added eight points and led all players with five assists and four steals on the night.
Navy won the boards, 47-38, but Longwood posted advantages in points off turnovers (18-6), in the paint (42-38) and in bench scoring (26-17).
"I thought Kayla Washington did a good job of coming in, hit some big shots late for us to cut into that lead," Lang-Montgomery said. "Otaifo's double-double off the bench, that was a big lift for us, as well.
"I really liked the way that we took care of the ball. Twenty assists on 27 baskets will win you a lot of basketball games. I liked that we valued possessions. They were just big and strong and they were a little tougher than we were the first half."
Longwood is back in action Friday for an 8 p.m., Homecoming & Alumni Weekend contest against Bluefield at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
"Homecoming has become a pretty exciting tradition at Longwood the last few years and we're excited to kick it off Friday night and play with a lot of intensity and heart and get the the fans and alumni excited about being there."
