FARMVILLE, Va. — Frances Ulysse notched her first career double-double and Otaifo Esenabhalu added her second consecutive to lead the Longwood women's basketball team to an 89-56 victory over Presbyterian in the Lancers' Big South opener on Saturday at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
Longwood (10-4, 1-0 Big South) put five players in double figures for a second straight game on the way to a fourth consecutive victory overall and third straight against Presbyterian (2-13, 0-2).
Ulysse tallied a team-leading 14 points with 10 rebounds while Esenabhalu had 13 points and 10 boards for her sixth double-double of the season and the 15th of her career.
Jesstynie Scott (13), JaMya Robinson (11) and Amor Harris (10) also scored double digits in the win, Longwood's fifth in its last seven Big South openers.
After a tight first quarter that featured six ties and eight lead changes, Longwood rattled off four quick points, including the go-ahead shot from Robinson on the Lancers' final possession of the frame for a 20-19 advantage.
From there, Longwood engineered a 13-0 run in a five-minute span during the second period, which expanded to a 34-7 stretch into the second half.
"We took a deep breath at the end of that quarter and allowed the Christmas rust to shake off," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. "I feel like we were still on winter break after that first quarter, but then we finally settled in, relaxed, started moving the ball, got some open looks from three, hit some threes and it was able to settle us down."
The Lancers forced Presbyterian into 30 turnovers on the day, a mark they hit for the 13th time in the four-year tenure of Lang-Montgomery and staff. Longwood registered 39 points on those miscues, while also accruing 44 points in the paint, 19 on second-chance opportunities and 42 more from its bench.
Longwood outrebounded PC, 46-33, grabbing 22 offensive boards, as wll.
"It's huge," Lang-Montgomery said of the effort on the glass. "I mean that's the first thing on the board, rebounding. We have got to be dominant on the glass every night. We want to control possessions and so that's a great way to do it. If we can get more offensive rebounds, that means that we get more offensive possessions to score."
In all, 10 different players scored for Longwood, including freshman London Harvey, who had six points and two rebounds in her collegiate debut.
Krystal Haddock and Morgan Boyd led all players with 18 and 16 points, respectively, for Presbyterian. The pair combined for 15 rebounds with Haddock snagging eight.
Longwood travels to Charleston Southern Wednesday at 6 p.m., with the game streaming on ESPN+.
"The road is tough, I mean everybody's trying to protect their home court, and we want to go and be the best versions of ourselves," Lang-Montgomery said. "We want to be able to execute. … Our defense will always travel with us and that gives us the best chance in helping us get the win on the road."
