FARMVILLE, Va. — Graduate guard Malea Brown scored a career-high 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting with five 3-pointers as the Longwood women's basketball team cruised to a 96-69 victory over Charleston Southern in its final regular-season home game on Wednesday.
The Lancers (19-9) snapped a three-game skid with the win and grabbed their 10th win in Big South action for the second straight season and fourth time since joining the league. Longwood is now 10-5 in conference.
A total team effort saw all 13 Longwood players that earned playing time score as the team shot nearly 47 percent from the floor and over 41 percent from long range. Longwood forced 24 Charleston Southern turnovers, converting them into 32 points, also getting 40 points in the paint and 40 for its bench. It was the third time this season LU won all four quarters against Division I competition. Longwood led, 24-16 after the first quarter, 48-38 at the half and 73-49 at the end of the third quarter.
"This is a team that's been unselfish all year, and so it was nice," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said of the multitude of contributions from different sources. "One of the things we talked about before the game was moving the ball. It's great to see we had 22 assists tonight on 34 baskets. I think that's really good. I think when we're moving the ball, when we're cutting, everybody's touching, it usually ends up a good night for the Lancers."
Longwood, which never trailed, posted a 13-0 run that spanned the third and fourth periods and led by as many as 35 points in final minutes.
The Lancers also controlled the boards with a 53-35 advantage there, including 15 offensive rebounds.
Senior JaMya Robinson also finished in double figures with 13 points while Frances Ulysse corralled a game-high 10 rebounds on the night.
"This is a very together basketball club," Lang-Montgomery said. "Players that enjoy playing with each other, they enjoy playing in the system that we've created for them. And so, when I look and I see we've got 40 bench points tonight, that means everybody's involved in doing something to contribute to our success.
Charleston Southern (8-20, 6-9) placed four in the double digits led by Tyonna Bailey with 18 points. She also collected a team-best seven boards for the Buccaneers.
Longwood closes the regular season Saturday at Presbyterian with a chance for 20 wins for the second year in a row.
"[We will] continue to take it one game at a time," Lang-Montgomery said. "Presbyterian is the next one in front of us, and my message to our team was let's treat every possession like it's our last one. Let's be hungry for stops. Let's be aggressive to score, and I thought we did that tonight, and I hope we continue to do that the remainder of the season."
