FARMVILLE, Va. — The Longwood women's basketball team erased a five-point second-half lead, exploding for 34 in the third quarter for a 74-50 win over USC Upstate in Big South action at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Friday.
The Lancers rebounded from a slow start in the first half to shoot 11-of-22 in the decisive third quarter that saw Longwood turn up its defensive pressure to force 14 turnovers in the stanza, including one on six consecutive possessions during a 10-0 run early in the period.
"I think we got back to being us," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery of the third quarter. "That was something we talked about before the game was being us. I just reminded them of when they started playing AAU, like they worked so hard to get here that what we do requires work."
The victory stopped a two-game skid for Longwood (14-6, 5-2 Big South), while giving LU its second straight win over the Spartans, who fell to 6-15 overall and 1-6 in the league with the loss.
Freshman Jesstynie Scott led all players with a career-high 20 points on 7-for-13 from the field, while tying her career best with seven steals. Otaifo Esenabhalu added 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Malea Brown chipped in with nine points, three steals and two assists and Jaci Bolden added eight points and three assists.
"Jess bought energy off the bench today," Lang-Montgomery said of Scott. "I mean she was so impactful on the floor, particularly that third quarter. She got steals, made plays, got to the free- throw line and finished. She was a spark that we needed."
Longwood caused 38 USC Upstate turnovers on the day and now has forced at least 30 in a game 14 times in the last two season, improving to 12-2 in those contests. The Lancers also posted a 30-point quarter for the ninth time this season.
Longwood trailed 29-26 at the half after shooting only 35.5 percent, but rallied. Vera Söderblom for USC Upstate hit a pair of free throws one the first possession of the third quarter to push the lead 31-26 before a Frances Ulysse offensive rebound and Scott floater in the paint made it 45-33 at the 5:42 mark and 19-2 Longwood run that featured with a Lili Booker 3-pointer off of a JaMya Robinson feed. The run continued with a Esenabhalu putback and finished on a Scott layup that gave Longwood a 53-33 edge with less than three-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter.
The Lancers led by as many as 30 when Olivia Bowes canned a trey with 3:46 left in the fourth for a 72-42 edge.
In all, Longwood, which had 11 of the 13 players to play score points, got 41 points off of turnovers and 55 from its bench.
"We've known all year that we could count on our bench to give us production," Lang-Montgomery said. "And today was it showed. And so just being able to rely like and you look down and know, 'OK, I've got someone else. I've got someone else.' That's very assuring. But it also, I mean, it's fun. who doesn't want to come and play for a team where you know you're going to get an opportunity?"
Longwood is back in action Wednesday at Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.
