FARMVILLE, Va. — The Longwood women's basketball team celebrated Homecoming & Alumni Weekend in style Friday night, controlling Virginia Union from the opening tip in a 59-33 victory in front of 2,091 fans at the Joan Perry Brock Center.
The Lancers (2-0) set the tone early, holding Virginia Union scoreless for the for more than half of the first quarter while building a 15-2 lead heading into the second. Longwood's defensive pressure continued in that stanza, limiting the Panthers to just two points again as the Lancers carried a commanding 28-4 advantage into halftime.
Longwood's defense forced difficult possessions throughout the first half, holding Virginia Union to 2-for-24 shooting (8.3 percent) before the break. The Panthers also went 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
"What a great atmosphere tonight that was that was really fun for our team, for our program, to play in," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. "The crowd was engaged it was just a fun environment for homecoming and I'm glad we were able to kick it off tonight and finish with our second win of the season. I thought we came out you know really excited, really ready to play, really aggressive defensively. We were able to turn them over just really did a good job of forcing them into tough shots and limiting them to one shot a possession and so that's kind of a staple and a hallmark of our defense and it showed that first half."
Jesstynie Scott led the Lancers with 15 points, adding five rebounds and an assist. Kayla Washington contributed eight points, while Nal'La Bennett finished with seven points and three assists. McKayla Hosley added five points and nine rebounds, and Shakira Gresham chipped in four points and four rebounds.
Longwood maintained its sizable advantage after halftime, outscoring Virginia Union 17-7 in the third quarter to take a 45-11 lead into the final period. The Panthers found more offensive success in the fourth, scoring 22 points, but the Lancers' early cushion proved insurmountable.
Longwood dominated the glass, holding a 50-31 rebounding advantage, and scored 32 points in the paint. The Lancers also turned defense into offense with 12 fast-break points and received 32 points from their bench.
Virginia Union was led by Tyra Kennedy, who scored 15 points. The Panthers shot 27.1 percent from the field for the game.
The Lancers return to action Monday at Charlotte in their first road test of the season. Tip time at Halton Arena is 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
