The Longwood women's basketball team dropped their season opener Friday, Nov. 11, to nationally ranked Georgetown University 56-45. The Lancers trailed the number 11 Hoyas by six at the intermission, and cut the lead to as little as four in the second half, but would get no closer. Senior Brittanni Billups and junior Erin Neal led Longwood with 14 points apiece. Billups also hauled in a game high of eight rebounds. Junior Sugar Rodgers led the Hoyas with 13 points and senior Alexa Roche added 12 points.
Georgetown used an early 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead before Longwood cut the lead to 13-10 with 12:19 left in the first half. The Hoyas would extend the lead to 20-10 with another 7-0 run, but the Lancers used a 7-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to three once again. After the teams traded baskets in the remaining minutes of the half, Georgetown took a 29-23 lead into the half.
Longwood cut the lead to four with 15:34 left to play, but Georgetown extended the lead back to 10 shortly after. The Lancers would then go on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to five at 41-35 with 7:00 remaining, but that was as close as they would get the remainder of the game.
Longwood shot 36 percent (15-41) from the field, 11 percent (1-9) from behind the arc and 77p percent (14-18) from the foul line. Billups and Neal paced the Lancers with 14 points, and senior Mina Jovanovic added eight points. The Lancers turned the ball over 23 times, leading to 24 points for the Hoyas.
Georgetown shot 31 percent (19-60) from the field, 27 percent (3-11) from three-point territory and 83 percent (15-18) from the foul line. They Hoyas out-rebounded the Lancers 44-29, grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and outscored Longwood in the paint 28-20.
It was a game of two halves for the women's team on Sunday, Nov. 13 when the Lancers squared off against the Big Red of Cornell University. Longwood came back from an eight point deficit at halftime to win 68-61 for their first victory of the year. Junior Mieke Elkington paced Longwood and led all scorers with 14 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Billups added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Lancers, and juniors Jovanovic and Chelsea Coward chipped in 11 points apiece as well. Sophomore Allyson DiMagno led Cornell with 13 points and senior Maka Anyanwu and junior Taylor Flynn added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Cornell controlled the first half, as they went into the half with a 25-17 lead in what would appear to be a low scoring defensive game. The Lancers shot only 26 percent (6-23) from the field in the first half including just 22 percent (2-9) on three-point attempts. Cornell shot only 30 percent (10-33) from the field, and 14 percent (2-14) on three-point attempts, but kept constant on pressure on the Lancers leading for 11 first half turnovers.
In the second half, the offense picked up for both teams as they traded baskets during the first few minutes of the half. Longwood cut the lead to 33-30 with 15:29 remaining in the half. Cornell then pushed the lead back to seven at 37-30 before Longwood used an 11-3 run to give them their first lead of the game 41-40. After a pair of free throws by Cornell, Elkington ran off six straight points to extend the Lancer lead to 47-42. Cornell would rally to tie the game at 50-50, and the two teams traded leads before Longwood would take the lead for good with 1:13 remaining to play. After Jovanovic's jump shot gave the Lancers a 61-59 lead, Elkington hit another jump shot to extend the lead to four with 1:09 to play. After junior Heather Tobeck was fouled hard and forced to the leave the game, senior Morgan Smith came off the bench and hit two free throws to push the lead to 67-61.
After a poor shooting performance in the first half, the Lancers would go on to shoot 53 percent (15-28) from the field and 66 percent (4-6) from downtown in the second half, finishing the game at 41 percent (21-51) and 40 percent (6-15). Elkington led all scorers with 14 points, including three three-pointers. Junior Crystal Smith added six points and had a game-high five assists. Jovanovic had four assists and three steals to go along with her 11 points.
The Lancers held Cornell to just 36 percent (22-60) from the field and 15 percent (3-19) from three-point range for the game, and forced eight Big Red turnovers in the second half. The Lancers return to action this Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m., when they welcome the Patriots from George Mason University. The game will be played at Willett Hall.
