After a white-hot start to their conference schedule, the Longwood women’s basketball team has fallen on hard times as of late, losing seven games in a row and one last week, with two games ahead this week.
The Lancers (9-16, 6-8 Big South) played Radford on Thursday, trailing 27-23 at halftime and eventually losing to the Highlanders 60-46. As a team, the Lancers shot 27 percent from the floor and were led by Chelsea Coward’s double- double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Crystal Smith and Mieke Elkington added 10 points each, and Victoria Hamilton’s 14 points were good enough for a game-high for Radford.
Second-year head coach Bill Reinson said Tuesday that the game was “disappointing because we failed to play with our usual effort and energy.”
Longwood defeated Radford 57-49 on Dec. 29 in the Lancers’ first-ever Big South game.
Up next for the Lancers are Winthrop (16-10, 10-4 Big South) and UNC-Asheville (2-24, 0-15 Big South), teams ranked second and last in the conference, respectively. Both games are on the road; LU will play the Eagles tomorrow and UNC- Asheville on Saturday.
Reinson said about Winthrop, “They are a very talented offensive team. They like to score in bunches and do a terrific job of shooting the three- point shot. Dequesha McClanahan was the pre- season player of the year in the conference and she has played exceptionally well for them this year.”
Regarding Asheville, he added, “[It] is going to be a difficult game because it is on the road against a team that hasn’t won a conference game. They are going to look at our recent record and get very excited to play us on Saturday. Post player Kelli Riles has just eclipsed the 1000/1000 barrier in points and rebounds.”
With just four games left before the Big South Tournament in March at Coastal Carolina University, the team will be doing everything in their power to return to their winning ways and be playing the way they were back in January, so as to secure a higher seed in the bracket when the tournament starts.
“We must get back to the way we were playing earlier this year. It has been a struggle, with the schedule becoming tougher at the same time we
encountered some injuries,” said Reinson. “We need to continue to work hard and learn to enjoy playing, and winning, together again.”
#22 Khalilah Ali jumps past Radford players trying to score a 2pointer at Longwood vs Radford. 2/14/2013
