BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico — The Longwood women's basketball team opened a 10-point lead with just over six minutes to play and staved off a late charge from Buffalo for a 68-64 victory in the first game of the Puerto Rico Clasico for both at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum on Thursday.
In a back-and-forth affair, Longwood led 19-9 after the first quarter before the Bulls rallied for a 31-30 edge at halftime. The Lancers, though, carried a 51-47 advantage into the fourth.
Longwood improved to 5-3 on the season, stopped a two-game losing streak and placed three in double figures. Junior Amor Harris led all players with 15 points on 5-for-11 from the field, while Jaci Bolden scored 13 and Jesstynie Scott added 11 in the win.
"Really gutsy fight," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. "Buffalo came out in the second quarter and picked up their intensity and really outworked us on the boards. And the message at halftime was that we needed recompose and remember who we are. I thought our defense gave us some great stops late game and we executed well enough to get the win."
A pair of Bolden free throws with 6:15 remaining pushed the Longwood lead to 61-51 before Buffalo (1-5) rattled off a 7-0 run over the next three minutes, Anaya Coleman capped the spurt with a 3-pointer to pull the MAC school to within four points.
JaMya Robinson responded with a steal and jumper for two of her eight points one minute later to restore a six-point, 63-57 lead but the Bulls kept coming.
Jasmine Peaks slipped on a wet floor and Buffalo's Janyah Bohanon scooped the loose ball and went the other way for a layup, cutting the deficit to 65-61 with 41 seconds on the clock. Coleman followed with another triple with 18 seconds left helping her team creep to within 65-64, however, Bolden and Harris canned three of four foul shots to ensure the win, the Lancers' first away from the Joan Perry Brock Center this season.
Longwood shot 8-for-16 in the third quarter to reclaim the lead, finishing the day 40.3 percent from the floor overall. The Lancers hit half of their 12 attempts from distance and 12-of-16 from the line.
The Lancers forced 28 Buffalo turnovers, scoring 23 points and enjoyed a 23-18 advantage in fast break points. Buffalo held a 43-31 advantage on the boards, including grabbing 22 offensive rebounds.
"It's about finding a way and we found a way," Lang-Montgomery said. It was a ugly game, but sometimes on the road is ugly. we found a way. We learned a lot. We learned we've got to value the ball more. We learned we've got to rebound better on the defensive end."
Bohannon and Coleman scored 13 points apiece for the Buffalo which also received 14 rebounds from Meg Lucas and 12 more from Diann Jackson.
Longwood is back in action Saturday at 11:30 a.m., against Stephen F. Austin, which beat Hampton in Thursday's first game.
