Game 1 • Longwood (0-0) vs The Apprentice School (0-0)
Date & Time	Monday, Nov. 2, 2026 (5 p.m.)
Location	Farmville, Va. (Joan Perry Brock Center)
Buy Tickets	Tickets
Game Notes	Longwood
Live Stats	Live Stats
Live Video	ESPN+ (Sam Hovan and Chase Strawser)
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodWBB

FARMVILLE, Va. -- The Longwood women's basketball team begins its 107th season on Monday hosting the Apprentice School from the United States Collegiate Athletic Association in a 5 p.m. tip at the Joan Perry Brock Center.

STORYLINES
▪ The Lancers return six letterwinners and welcome nine newcomers for fifth-year head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery and staff.
▪ Longwood posted 21 wins last season, giving it at least 20 victories in consecutive seasons for the first time at the Division I level and in 26 seasons overall. The Lancers also went 22-12 in 2021-22.
▪ Longwood won its only other meeting with Apprentice, 91-40, on Feb. 2, 2004 at Willett Hall. Marita Meldere led five Lancers in double figures that day with 25 points, adding a game-high 14 rebounds.
▪ Longwood was chosen to finish third in the 2026-27 Big South Women's Basketball Preseason Poll with 63 points. The Lancers sit behind High Point and Radford, which tied for the top spot with four first-place votes and 75 points each.
▪ For the fourth consecutive season, the Lancers, had a presence on the preseason All-Big South first team, as sophomore guard Jesstynie Scott claimed the recognition. An All-Freshman Team selection last year, Scott averaged 7.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.4 minutes per game. She was named Big South Freshman of the Week four times (Nov. 10 and 17, Dec. 1 and Jan. 26) in her debut campaign.

SCOUTING THE BUILDERS
The Apprentice School, member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, went 15-9 overall and 5-1 in the New South Athletic Conference under head coach Ieshia Small Gainey. The Lady Builders return four players to a team that averaged 66.6 points per game while limiting the opposition to 54.0 points per game, a scoring margin of plus-12.6. Apprentice outrebounded its opponents by over 10 boards per game. Monday's game is an exhibition contest for the Lady Builders.

LANCERS IN SEASON OPENERS
Longwood is 6-16 in season openers in its Division I history, which dates to the 2004-05 season. The Lancers won their first three such openers, including defeating current Big South foe Winthrop, 76-45, on Nov. 19,2004 in the Lancer Invitational at Willett Hall. Longwood began last season with a 121-35 victory over Division III Randolph at the Joan Perry Brock Center. Five Lancers finished in double figures with Olivia Bowes leading the way with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in just 20 minutes off the bench.

NEW FACES
Longwood features a roster of no fewer than nine newcomers, including six transfers, three of whom boast previous NCAA Division I playing experience.

Nal'La Bennett, a 5-foot-6 guard from Sicklerville, N.J., played 30 games with one start as a freshman for Stony Brook of the Coastal Athletic Association last season, averaging 3.4 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game for a team that finished 18-15 overall and 12-6 in the league, advancing to the league semifinals.

McKayla Hosley, a 6-foot sophomore forward and native of Columbus, Ga., appeared in six games in her freshman season at Georgia Southern.

Shakira Gresham, a 5-foot-9 junior guard from Atlanta, spent her freshman season of 2024-25, at Mississippi Valley State in the SWAC before transferring to Northwest Florida State, where she averaged 5.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 11 games as a sophomore. With the Devilettes, she averaged 2.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.

FRESHMEN FOCUS
The Lancers have three freshmen in 2026-27 – 5-foot-7 guards Maddy Little and Samia Snead from Ithaca, N.Y., and Woodbridge, Va., respectively, along with 6-foot forward McKenna Hoyt from Stamford, N.Y.

Little was a New England Preparatory School Athletic Council All-Star at The Taft School in Watertown, Conn., averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 rebounds  per game, while also recording better than three assists and steals per game. Snead led Osbourn Park High School to no fewer than 10 championships, including two state titles, four district titles and four region titles. She earned two all-state selections, was named all-region three times and all-district three times. Hoyt holds Stamford Central School records for career points (2,372), rebounds (1,476), assists (340) and steals (306). A four-year team captain, she also was a two-time Basketball Coaches Association of New York first-team selection and 2025-26 Player of the Year. Hoyt was a two-time first team all-state pick, as well.

REBOUNDING PROWESS
Sophomore forward Laterria Green transferred to Longwood this season after leading NJCAA Division I in rebounding for Central Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-1 native of Eastman, Ga., scored 19.3 points and pulled down 14.5 boards per game to help the Titans win the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association championship and advance to the NJCAA national tournament, finishing with a 21-8 record. Green was named an NJCAA All-America honorable mention.

PACKING 'EM IN
Longwood led the Big South in attendance for the second straight season, averaging 1,160 fans per game over 15 home dates. A total of 17,396 people came through the turnstiles at the Joan Perry Brock Center for the season, good for 149th most nationally.

SCOTT STEALS IT
Longwood guard Jesstynie Scott returns for her sophomore season to lead a defensive unit that ranked seventh in the NCAA in steals per game in 2025-26, swiping 13.7. 

Individually, Scott led the Big South and finished 27th in the country with 92 total steals, which also tied for the fourth-best total in a single season at Longwood with Brenda Fettrow during the 1979-80 season. Scott also finished tops in the Big South in steals per game at 2.97, good for 18th in the NCAA, last year.

HEY, FRIEND!
Former Alabama standout and NCAA Division II head coach Betsy Harris was named an assistant coach for the Lancers in May, rounding out the 2025-26 coaching staff.

Harris most recently was the head coach at East Central Community College, an NJCAA institution in her hometown of Decatur, Miss., from 2022-24. Prior to that, she enjoyed an eight-year run with Florida Southern, won two consecutive Sunshine State Conference titles and was named league coach of the year three times, while coaching against her new boss, Erika Lang-Montgomery at Flagler. The two also played against each other in the Southeastern Conference when Lang-Montgomery was at Florida, Harris led the Crimson Tide to three straight NCAA tournaments and the 1994 Final Four as a senior.

AMBASSADOR ERIKA
Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery is one of 30 coaches and administrators part of WBCA Ambassador Program in 2026-27. 

The aim of the initiative is to unite coaches, administrators and basketball professionals nationwide who are passionate about advancing women's basketball. this season's ambassadors serve the organization as trusted voices — sharing opportunities, promoting membership and events and connecting the coaching community with the resources and programming that help it grow.

SUCCESS AT HOME
Head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery and staff helped Longwood to a 12-3 mark at the Joan Perry Brock Center in 2025-26, its best record at home at the Division I level. It was Longwood's best record at home since the 2002-03 Lancers went a perfect 14-0 under legendary coach Shirley Duncan. That team finished 27-5 overall, won the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference and advanced to the second round of the Division II NCAA tournament.

The Lancers are set to play 13 games at home this season, including five in non-conference action. Among those, Longwood welcomes George Mason of the Atlantic 10 on Nov. 24 and Furman of the Southern Conference on Dec. 5.

GETTING NOTICED
Longwood received votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll in eight different weeks last season.

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. The 2024-25 Lancers were 9-5 before the Big South schedule began.

SERVANT LEADER
Junior guard Lili Booker was announced as a recipient of the 2026-27 Kay Yow Servant Leader Award on Oct. 26. The full 2026-27 Servant Leader Class of upwards of 90 student-athletes across all levels of women's college basketball will be revealed by the organization in December and celebrated during a special event at the end of the season, where the fund will also name a Servant Leader of the Year. The recognition will honor one student-athlete whose impact and leadership stand out among this year's honorees.

The Kay Yow Cancer Fund was founded in honor of former NC State head coach Kay Yow, who had a 22-year battle with breast cancer before passing away in 2009. She helped set up the fund in 2007 to support advanced research, extend the quality of life for those battling cancer, serve the underserved and unite people.

As part of the fund's outreach, the Kay Yow Servant Leader Award was created in 2024 to honor student-athletes who best embody the characteristics of Coach Kay Yow – people with a servant's spirit and a commitment to selfless leadership both on and off the court and athletic field. 

Recipients of the Servant Leader Award are people of great character who put the needs of others before their own, who uplift others and who do it with grace and humility. They are nominated by their coach and are people who exemplify Yow's spirit and who reflect her resolve, grace, generosity and servant's heart.

CLUTCH IN CLASS
The Lancers earned a Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Special Mention for the second consecutive season in 2025-26, the organization announced in July.

The WBCA Academic Top 25 recognizes NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA and two-year college women's basketball teams across the nation that carry the highest combined GPAs inclusive of all student-athletes on their rosters for the entire season. The 2025-26 season was the 31st in which the WBCA has compiled the honor rolls.

Teams must have a 3.0 combined GPA to be qualified for WBCA Academic Top 25 consideration.

The Lancers posted a 3.493 cumulative GPA during the 2025-26 academic year. Eleven members of the roster carried a 3.0 or higher GPA.