FARMVILLE, Va. — Five players scored double figures and junior Otaifo Esenabahalu recorded her fifth double of the season as the Longwood women's basketball team rolled to a 98-72 victory over UNCW to close regular-season non-conference play at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Sunday.
Jasmine Peaks led all players with a career-high 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and three 3-pointers. She added six assists, four rebounds and two steals as Longwood improved to 9-4 on the year, matching its win total through non-league action a season ago.
Esenabhalu, who entered play Sunday ranked 40th in the NCAA and tops in the Big South in double-doubles this year, collected the 14th of her career, registering a career-high-tying 16 points with 10 rebounds for the Lancers.
Longwood shot 51.3 percent from the floor on the day, making 39 field goals and 12 treys, marking the second time this season it knocked down more than half of its shots. The Lancers had 26 assists for the game, the fourth time this season they posted at least 20.
"We are a team that has just really meshed very well [during] non-conference and I think it really showed today just how well. we moved the ball, how we shared the ball," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. You can just see it in the excitement, our bench is happy, just a lot of camaraderie.
"That's something that we talk about and practice a lot is we don't have to settle for maybe a contested two. We can make the extra pass to find the open person. We work on open shots. Those are the ones that we want to take majority of the time."
Longwood led 25-12 after the first quarter and 56-37 at halftime after JaMya Robinson splashed her first triple of the season from the corner at the buzzer to cap her team's eighth period of 30-or-more points. The Lancers were up 77-51 after the third quarter and led by as many as 33 at 87-54 on an Amor Harris jumper, assisted by Lili Booker, with 6:58 to play.
In all, 11 saw playing time and 10 scored in the win. Malea Brown scored 16 points and a team-best four 3-pointers, while Jaci Bolden contributed 13. Frances Ulysse rounded out the quintet in double digits with 10, narrowly missing a double-double of her own with nine boards.
Longwood held a 39-37 advantage in the glass and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.
"Today we locked in. "Lang-Montgomery said. "This is that 'trap game,' where everybody's kind of looking ahead to break. And so our focus was really, really important and out rebounding this team was something that we wanted to do today."
Longwood grabbed 14 steals, forced 26 turnovers and got 40 points from its bench, a number that is better than its season average of 34.4, which is eighth best in Division I.
UNCW (3-7) put four players in double digits, as well, shooting 47 percent. Rori Cox led the way with 16 points and five steals.
The Lancers now break for the holidays, returning to open the Big South schedule Jan. 3 at 2 p.m., against Presbyterian.
