ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The Longwood women's basketball team travels to UNC Asheville and Kimmel Arena on Saturday looking for its sixth straight win and eighth victory in the last nine games overall.
STORYLINES
▪ The all-time series with the Bulldogs is tied, 16-16, however, Longwood has won the last three games between the two, including 95-51 in Asheville last season. The 44-point margin of victory was just two from tying the Lancers' largest in Big South play against Charleston Southen on Feb. 12, 2021.
▪ Longwood is now one of just 11 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, North Dakota State, Northwestern State, Oklahoma, Rice, UC Davis and Youngstown State. Of that group, only Cornell (5-8) is below .500.
▪ The Lancers rank inside the top 10 in the NCAA in three team statistical categories through games of Jan. 8. They are: bench points per game (fifth, 33.1), turnovers forced per game (sixth, 25.6) and steals per game (ninth, 14.7).
▪ Otaifo Esenabhalu recorded her third consecutive and seventh double-double of the season at Charleston Southern Wednesday with 11 points and 13 rebounds. She currently ranks 17th in the NCAA in the category and now has 16 career double-doubles. She is the first Longwood player to tally three straight since Akila Smith did it against Feb. 12-13 and 19, 2021 against Charleston Southern twice and Gardner-Webb, respectively.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
UNC Asheville is 6-10 overall and 1-2 in the Big South on the season, having topped Gardner-Webb, 62-51, on the road Wednesday.
Nia Green leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game while Deborah Orianegbena is its top rebounder, averaging 6.4 boards per game.
As a team, the Bulldogs are 17th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (34.7) and 26th in the country at defending the 3-point shot (25.9 percent).
LAST TIME OUT
Five players scored in double figures and junior Otaifo Esenabhalu secured her third consecutive double-double as Longwood claimed its fifth straight with an 83-63 victory at Charleston Southern in Big South action on Wednesday.
Junior guard Amor Harris led the way, going 8-for-18 from the field for 20 points, her third 20-point outing of the season, while Malea Brown added 17 points and six rebounds for the Lancers, who won for the seventh time in the last eight games. Frances Ulysse tallied 14 points and eight rebounds, as well, while Jasmine Peaks rounded out the Longwood quintet in double digits with 12 points, adding four assists, three rebounds and three steals
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 11-2 (.846) in those games.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
The Lancers rank 24th in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 80.6 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.
FASTEST TO 10
With the Jan. 3 victory over Presbyterian to improve to 10-4, the Lancers reached double-digit wins in the fewest amount of games in their Division I history. In 2002-03, Division II Longwood accomplished the feat in 13 games, finishing the season 27-5 overall.
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. 8 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 25 double-digit rebound games in her career and the Lancers have gone 18-7 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 79 games at Longwood, Brown, who was selected to the preseason all-Big South second team this season, has 180 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.
50 WINS
Head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery claimed her 50th victory at Longwood in the 83-63 win at Charleston Southern Wednesday. She is currently 50-58 overall at Longwood, including 27-25 in the Big South.
