Game 31 • 2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Championship • No. 3 Longwood (21-9) vs No. 2 Radford (21-11)
Date & Time	Saturday, March 7, 2025 (8:30 p.m.)
Location	Johnson City, Tenn. (Freedom Hall Civic Center)
2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Basketball Championship Page	Click Here
Longwood Tournament Central	Click Here
Live Stats	Live Stats
Live Video	ESPN+ (Matt Hogue, Richmond Weaver and Summer Huechtker)
Social Media	@LongwoodLancers | @LongwoodWBB

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Longwood women's basketball is back in the semifinals of the 2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Tournament second straight season, where the team takes on second-seeded Radford in a Commonwealth Matchup at the Freedom Hall Civic Center.
 
Matchup History

• The two sides meet up for the third time this season after splitting the first two matchups in the regular season.
• Both sides won on their own home floors, with Longwood winning 88-73 in overtime on Feb. 4 after Radford won 78-63 on Jan. 21.
• This is the third time the two teams have met in the tournament as well, and the previous two meetings were in the semifinals in 2013 and 2025. Longwood won both meetings.
• In the first meeting this year, Joi Williams led Radford with a game-high 23 points as the Highlanders used a big second quarter to pull away from Longwood.
• The return matchup in Farmville saw Frances Ulysse and Otaifo Esenabhalu dominate the interior, with the duo recording double-doubles for Longwod. Ulysse had a career-high 21 points to go with 10 rebounds, and Esenabhalu added 18 points and 14 boards.

 
Tournament History

• The Lancers are 10-12 all-time in the Big South Tournament and 2-1 all-time as the No. 3 seed.
• Longwood has played in the Big South Championship game three times: 2013, 2022 and 2025.
• The Lancers have advanced to the Big South semifinals four times, and the team is 3-1 in the semifinals.

 
20 Wins Banked

• Longwood has won at least 21 games in back-to-back campaigns for the first time in nearly three decades, when the team did so as a Division II team under Shirley Duncan in 1995-96 and 1996-97 campaigns.
• In those two seasons under Duncan, Longwood went 22-7 (1995-96) and 25-5 (1996-97) and a combined 36-2 in CVAC play.
• The team's record for wins at the Division I level is 22, done in 2021-22 and 2024-25.

 
Highlander Scout

• Head Coach Mike McGuire was named the Big South Co-Coach of the Year in the postseason conference awards.
• Joi Williams leads Radford (21-11) in scoring at 14.6 points per game, and she was named to the All-Big South First Team. She shot 38 percent from three-point range.
• Georgia Simonsen was the Big South Freshman of the Year and an All-Big South Second Team selection. She averaged 11.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
• The Highlanders took down Charleston Southern 86-67 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis.

 
Chaos Creators

• Longwood women's basketball ranks seventh in the nation in both steals per game (13.8) and turnovers forced per game (24.63), the second straight year the team has ranked in the top seven.
• The team has forced at least 30 turnovers in a game six times this year and is 6-0 when doing so.
• The Lancers have also had at least 15 steals in a game 10 times, and they are 9-1 in those games.
• Jesstynie Scott leads the team with 89 steals, good for 21^st nationally.
• Malea Brown is second on the team (and in the Big South) with 86, which is 23^rd nationally.

 
On The Offensive

• Longwood is also one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, with the team's 16 offensive rebounds per game ranking 11^th nationally.
• The team has grabbed at least 18 offensive rebounds in a game nine times, and Longwood is 7-2 in those contests.
• Otaifo Esenabhalu leads the charge on the offensive glass, ranking sixth nationally with 4.2 offensive rebounds per game.

 
Iron Woman

• Malea Brown has done a little bit of everything for Longwood this season while being named the Big South Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
• The graduate student leads the team in scoring (11.5 points per game) and steals (86) while ranking second in assists (98), and she averages 4.2 rebounds per game.
• She also earned All-Big South Second Team honors
• She has 229 career steals at Longwood, which ranks seventh all time in the program annals. She passed Becky Fernandez ('10) earlier this season.
• In addition, Brown had a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double earlier this season against Troy on Dec. 3, and she also had a game with 10 assists in a road win at Gardner-Webb on Jan. 28.

 
Double (Double) Trouble

• Frances Ulysse and Otaifo Esenabhalu have combined to post 17 double-doubles between them this season.
• Esenabhalu has a team-best 13, and she has had at least 10 rebounds in a game two other times.
• Ulysse has a total of four double-doubles.
• The duo have had a double-double in the same game four times, with Longwood winning all four contests.
• Both players were named Big South Honorable Mentions earlier this month.

 
Rebounding Machine

• Otaifo Esenabhalu is the top rebounder in the Big South, with her 9.3 rebounds per game leading the league and ranking 46^th nationally.
• Her 13 double-doubles are 23^rd nationally and the top mark in the Big South.
• All 13 have come off the bench.
• Esenabhalu has snared 757 career rebounds, good for eighth in team history and two behind Carmille Barnette's 759.
• Her career rebounding average of 8.1 boards per game would rank ninth in team history.
• Her 270 boards this season are good for ninth-most in a single season in team history, and she is 10 behind her own eighth-place spot, set last year with 280.
• Her 13 double-doubles are one shy of the team's Division I record, set by Akila Smith in the 2020-21 season. She is tied for second-most with Autumn Childress.

 
Freshman Phenom

• Jesstynie Scott has been electric defensively this season for Longwood.
• Her 89 steals are tied with Kennedy Calhoun (2021-22) and Ann Callaham (1990-91) for fifth-most in a single season in team history.
• She was a Big South All-Freshman Team honoree while averaging 7.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and three steals per game.

 
#GoWood #HorsePower