FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Longwood women's basketball team welcomes Presbyterian for the Lancers' Big South Conference opener Saturday at 2 p.m., at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
The game is Longwood's annual Fight for Literacy Book Drive, benefiting the Virginia Children's Book Festival. Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used books to donate in exchange for free admission to the game.
STORYLINES
▪ Longwood is 5-9 all-time in Big South Conference openers, but has won four of its last six games to begin league play, including beating Presbyterian, 68-56, last Jan. 2 at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
▪ Presbyterian leads the all-time series against Longwood, 18-14, and 10-8 in Farmville although the Lancers swept the two contests a year ago.
▪ Longwood is one of just 14 teams in Division I women's basketball to use the same starting lineup in all of its games so far this season. The others are: Cornell, Eastern Michigan, Fort Wayne, La Salle, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Northwestern State, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, Rice, UC Davis, Utah Tech and Youngstown State. Of that group, only Cornell (4-8) and Utah Tech (5-7) are below .500.
▪ The Lancers rank inside the top 10 in the NCAA in three team statistical categories through games of Jan. 1. They are: bench points per game (fourth, 33.9), steals per game (seventh, 15.5) and turnovers forced per game (eighth, 25.46). Longwood is also 18th in the country in turnover margin (plus-8.54) and 21st in defending the 3-pointer (25.4 percent).
▪ Otaifo Esenabhalu recorded her fifth double-double of the season in the 98-72 victory over UNCW on Dec. 21 with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She currently ranks 29th in the NCAA in the category and now has 14 career double-doubles. In addition, Malea Brown picked up her second career double-double versus Troy on Dec. 3, going for 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds.
SCOUTING THE BLUE HOSE
Presbyterian is 2-12 overall and 0-1 in the Big South after dropping its league opener 75-32 Wednesday at home to Radford. Loser of nine consecutive games, PC does not have a victory against a Division I opponent this season. The Blue Hose beat Warren Wilson, 113-45 , on Nov. 3 and Erskine, 86-50, on Nov. 17.
As a team, Presbyterian is scoring 54.8 points per game while giving up 72.9 and ranks in the bottom 10 in Division I in 3-point defense (358th, 37.8), field goal defense (355th, 46.9) and free-throw percentage (353rd, 59.3).
Former Longwood assistant coach Tiffany Sardin's team is led by Ja'Cia Cunningham in scoring with 9.6 points per game and Morgan Boyd in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Five players scored double figures and junior Otaifo Esenabhalu recorded her fifth double of the season as Longwood 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.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Guard Jesstynie Scott claimed her third Big South Freshman of the Week honor of the season on Dec. 1, averaging 8.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game in wins over Buffalo and Stephen F. Austin in the Puerto Rico Clasico. Scott also claimed the award the first two times it was given on Nov. 10 and 17 this season.
Kyla McMakin earned a program-record seven citations for Big South Freshman of the Week in 2019-20..
TURNING 'EM OVER
Longwood forced a season-high 51 turnovers against Bluefield on Nov. 14. Longwood has now forced at least 30 turnovers 12 times in the last two seasons under Erika Lang-Montgomery and staff. The Lancers are 10-2 (.833) in those games.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
The Lancers rank 31st in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 79.8 points per game. Longwood has put together eight different quarters of at least 30 points, including accomplishing the feat in the first, third and fourth frames against Bluefield on Nov. 14. Longwood posted a season-best 35-point third period versus the Rams.
FIRST TIME IN A WHILE
Longwood never trailed in an 80-42 win over Western Kentucky Nov. 8. The victory was Longwood's first against a current Conference USA foe since winning versus Jacksonville State, 69-64, at home on Jan. 11, 2005. It was also the first CUSA victory for a Big South school since Radford topped Liberty on Dec. 13, 2023.
PACKING 'EM IN
Longwood led the Big South in attendance in 2024-25, averaging 1,183 fans per game over 15 home dates.
A total of 17,750 people came through the turnstiles at the Joan Perry Brock Center for the season, good for 148th most nationally across Division I women's basketball.
ELITE COMPANY
In the changing landscape of college athletics where offseason player movement has become the norm, the Lancers did not lose a single player to the transfer portal this summer.
In fact, Longwood is one of just 19 schools in all of Division I women's basketball to boast of that this year, joining the likes of Power 4 schools Nebraska, Oregon, Syracuse and Washington.
The others are: Air Force, Belmont, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Creighton, Dartmouth, Davidson, Drexel, Green Bay, Harvard, Marquette, Sam Houston and Princeton.
HALL TO THE HALL
Former Longwood great Nikki Hall-Atkinson was announced as one of six part of the Longwood Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025 on Oct. 7.
Hall-Atkinson played for four seasons and has her jersey number retired, as well. She led Longwood to a pair of CVAC titles and three trips to the Division II NCAA tournament. She also earned All-America honorable mention twice.
As a senior, she was the CVAC Player of the Year in 1997, and she was named to the CVAC All-Time Team.
Hall-Atkinson finished her career with 1,499 career points which is currently fifth all-time at Longwood.
Hall-Atkinson took over on the bench for Shirley Duncan during the 2005-06 season.
She is also slated to call select games with Sam Hovan on ESPN+ this season.
SUCCESS AT HOME
Head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery helped the Lancers to a 10-5 record at the Joan Perry Brock Center in 2024-25. It was Longwood's best record at home since the 2020-21 Lancers went 11-3 at Willett Hall under Rebecca Tillett and were selected to compete in the Women's Basketball Invitational after finishing 14-11 overall.
The Lancers are set to play another 15 games at home this season, including seven in non-conference action. Among those, Longwood welcomes Western Kentucky of the Sun Belt Conference Nov. 8, George Washington Nov. 17 and Troy Dec. 3. The Trojans are ranked No. 4 in the Nov. 25 mid-major top 25 poll.
LOCKED IN THROUGH 2030-31
Following the Lancers' Big South championship game appearance, trip to the postseason WNIT and 22-win season, head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery signed a six-year contract extension that will keep her in Farmville through the 2030-31 season.
Lang-Montgomery and staff coached the Big South Defensive Player of the Year in Kiki McIntyre, who set the Longwood and Big South single-season record for steals (130), and led one of the most smothering defensive units in the country, which forced 27.47 turnovers per game, good for second in the NCAA. All that helped Longwood to a 13-win improvement from 2023-24.
WINNING THE FIRST TWO
The Lancers started 2-0 this season for the first time since 2006-07 when they beat American and Norfolk State under head coach Pamela Bass.
WALKING REBOUND
Junior forward Otaifo Esenabhalu enters her third season with the Lancers tied for 10th all-time in Longwood women's basketball history in career rebounding average at 7.6 boards per game. Esenabhalu is tied with Salene Green, who played 98 games at Longwood from 1988-92.
Esenabhalu has 23 double-digit rebound games in her career and the Lancers have gone 16-7 in those contests.
MALEA STEALS
Back for her third season in Farmville, graduate student guard Malea Brown posted 83 steals in 2024-25, representing the eighth-most steals in a single season in Longwood history.
In 77 games at Longwood, Brown, who was selected to the preseason all-Big South second team this season, has 176 career steals.
She leads the team with 35 games of at least three steals and has helped the Lancers to a 22-13 (.629) record in those contests.
LANCERS SECOND IN BIG SOUTH POLL
Longwood was picked second in the 2025-26 Big South preseason poll, announced at the conference media day in Johnson City, Tenn., on Oct. 15. The Lancers earned 69 points in the balloting with one first-place vote to finish behind just High Point (77 points and six first place nods. Radford was picked third with 67 points and one first-place vote. The final vote for the top spot went to UNC Asheville, which was ninth overall with 22 total points.
It marks the first time in program history that the Lancers have earned a first-place vote in the Big South poll.
SMARTY PANTS
One of the cornerstones of the Longwood women's basketball program under head Erika Lang-Montgomery is academic success and 2024-25 was no different.
Eleven of the 13 players on last year's roster earned a spot of the Big South Presidential Honor Roll by registering a 3.0 GPA or better for the academic year. Earning the honor were: Montgomery Bedford, Jaci Bolden, Lili Booker, Olivia Bowes, Malea Brown, Otaifo Esenabhalu, Amor Harris, Kiki McIntyre, JaMya Robinson, Nalani Simmons and Frances Ulysse.
WELCOME TO PARADISE
Longwood spent the Thanksgiving holiday at the Puerto Rico Clasico in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, topping Buffalo, 68-64, and Stephen F. Austin, 68-60.
Longwood shot better than the opposition in each game, finishing 37.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. Longwood also posted 17.0 assists and 11.5 steals per game in the event, while also turning the opponent over an average of 24.5 times per game.
NINE NON-CON WINS
Longwood closed the regular-season non-league portion of its schedule at 9-4 overall for the second consecutive season. Last year's Lancers were 9-5 before the Big South schedule began.
RECORD BREAKER
Longwood smashed the single-game school record for attendance on Nov. 14, packing 2,467 fans into the Joan Perry Brock Center for its 128-31 homecoming victory over Bluefield. In four home dates this season, the Lancers are averaging 1,377 per contest.
BIG, BIG, BIG WIN
For the second time this season, Longwood went over 100 points in its 128-31 homecoming victory against Bluefield Nov. 14, scoring its most points in program history. The 97-point difference was also the widest margin of victory in history. The 128 points are the eighth most in a game this season in NCAA Division I.
GIMME THAT
Longwood swiped 32 steals in the 128-31 win over Bluefield on Nov. 14, tied for the third most in a single game at the NCAA Division I level this season, through games of Jan. 1. In fact, the Lancers have two of the top four best totals in a single game this season, having also grabbed 30 in their season-opening 121-35 victory against Randolph on Nov. 5.
THE REAL MCCOY
With head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery on leave to attend services for a death in her family, assistant coach Landis F. McCoy stepped in as acting head coach, helping the Lancers to a season-opening 121-35 win over Randolph, his first as a Division I head coach.
Lang-Montgomery returned to the sidelines for the Nov. 8 win over WKU.
