The Longwood women's basketball team finished their 2011-12 campaign last Sunday with a 69-66 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Their second win in a row, the Lancers finished with an overall record of 6-22. Seen in the three-point victory was a notable 16-0 run by the Lancers to tie the game 32-32 at half.
Senior Brittanni Billups (Goldsboro) scored LU's first seven points in the second half and recorded twelve more in the half. With 6:38 remaining, and the game 45-44 in favor of NJIT, the game saw three more ties. With ten straight foul shots in the remaining two minutes, the Lancers held NJIT to only seven more points, ensuring a three-point victory.
In Billups' final game as a Lancer, she scored a career high 25 points, also contributing 9 rebounds and two assists. Right behind her was junior Chelsea Coward (Mechanicsville), who threw up 18 points and blocked three. Ending their season with a victory, LU also recorded a sweep of NJIT this season, who lost to the Lancers by one in their last meeting.
A tough year, the Lancers shot around 35 percent from the floor and averaged 55 points a game. Despite several injuries, including senior Mina Jovanovic, Billups said, "My teammates did what they could to remain resilient through those adversities and we made the best we could out of a bad situation."
Junior Crystal Smith (Richmond) led LU with a total of 302 points, followed closely by senior Brittany Billups (273) and junior Chelsea Coward (270). Despite losing eight of their first ten games, LU was able to win three of five in mid-January, defeating NJIT by one point along with both United States Air Force Academy and Dartmouth University.
In their final game last Sunday, the Lancers beat NJIT in another tight match, winning by a mere three points. At Senior Night, the athletics department recognized five veterans leaving the team. Brittani Billups, Morgan Smith (Williamsport), Mina Jovanovic (Smederevska Palanka, Serbia) , Kacie Oliver (Portsmouth) and Courtney Long (Mechanicsville), led by first year coach Bill Reinsen, were recognized prior to tip-off.
Head Coach Reinson: In his tenth year coaching at Longwood University, Reinson served as the women's basketball coach for the first time this year. Previously serving as an assistant on both UNC Greensboro men's team and Longwood women's team in the past, Reinson has also previously assisted men's head coach Mike Gillian with daily practice and opponent scheduling.
Brittani Billups: Majoring in social work and a Longwood Scholar in her 2010-11 season,was a member of the team for four years. Scoring a total of 691 points, Billups started 47 times and appeared in 78 games. Leading the team in points scored this season, she recorded career highs in points, blocks and steals her junior year. She also recorded 12 double-figure scoring games and five double-digit rebounding games her junior year. Scoring a career high 25 points in the Lancer's final game against NJIT, Billups was asked how she felt coming into the game.
Billups said, "Well, I definitely felt more determined. I felt that I might as well go out with a punch since it would be the last game of my career. Remembering my four years here and how it has been from the start to this point where I am finishing, I felt that I owed it to myself, my family and to everyone who has supported me over these years to go out strong."
Morgan Smith: A liberal studies major and a fourth-year member, Smith appeared in 81 games, starting 23 times. Scoring a total of 342 points, Smith also recorded 225 rebounds, 19 blocks and 47 steals. Smith led the Lancers in three-point field goal percentage her junior year while also recording a career-high 69.6 percent from the free-throw line.
A member all four years, Smith said, "I will never forget playing some of the best teams in the country, including a sold out crowd at Notre Dame. The fact that my career has ended is overwhelming. You invest as much into basketball as you do academics and it takes up all your free time. That being said, you and your teammates become family, a home away from home."
Mina Jovanovic: An economics major and two-year member started 22 of the 32 games in which she appeared. Scoring a total of 184 points, she pulled down 148 rebounds and stole the ball a total of 48 times. Injured her senior year, Jovanovic had seven double-figure scoring games and one double-figure rebounding game. She also received a Longwood Scholar Athlete Award in her 2010-11 season.
Though injured this past year due to a fractured hand, Jovanovic said, "My career has been a great learning experience. Stepping up to division one basketball was tough, but Reinson, along with assistant coaches Wanisha Smith, Lindsey Schrader and Jenny Poff, went out of their way to teach me. Playing for the little time I could, I had an overall great experience."
The women's basketball team will look to improve on their record next season in the Big South Conference.